The Daily
Free Press - Sports
Issue:
BU runs well with the
best of the best
By Brian Maurer
It has been said that “To be the best, you have to beat the best.”
That is the mind-set of the
In a meet that included over 40 teams on each side, the Terriers kept up with
the front of the pack, as the men finished sixth and the women placed seventh.
“We did well to a degree,” said BU Coach
In 2002, both teams finished one spot higher (men fifth, women sixth), even
though the times were a few seconds slower than this year.
Coming off of a disappointing showing in
“Being home was advantageous,” said senior co-captain Jordan Jones. “I mean it
wasn’t anything huge, but it made us feel comfortable. We knew where we can
beat guys, and weren’t surprised by anything along the way.”
For the men, senior co-captain Jochen Dieckfoss propelled BU as he raced to a
fourth-place finish overall, finishing the eight-kilometer (4.9 mile) course in
24:26. Jones was second to cross the finish line for BU and 15th out of the
entire meet (24:58). Senior Dan Coval rounded out
BU’s top three, running to a 21st-place finish, with a time of 25:08.
“We’re pretty happy with this,” Jones said. “It was a breakthrough race for us.
We got over that hump and ran well.”
While Lehane praised his top three runners, he still believes the team is weak
in the last two spots.
“This meet highlighted how good our first three are,” Lehane said. “The fourth
and fifth guys are doing a good job, but we are vulnerable. We need them to
finish closer to our other guys.”
Dieckfoss and Jones have certainly hit their stride, and are expected to carry
this team through the America East Conference Championships, which will be held
Saturday, Nov. 1.
“[Dieckfoss] is a very talented kid,” Lehane said. “He was born to run. [Jones]
on the other hand, had to really go to work. He’s a tough kid with a lot of
enthusiasm, which has made him into a very good collegiate runner.”
For the women, sophomore captain Jessica Iannacci
kept the Terriers in line, finishing the five-kilometer (3.1 mile) course in
18th, with a time of
“We’re content with this,” Iannacci said. “It was a
bit disappointing, but I think we ran harder, more aggressively and smarter
than we did in
Brown took home the women’s trophy with a first place finish, beating out
second-place
While the women’s team may only be considered puppies, the maturity and
confidence levels have risen drastically in every meet. However, Lehane is not
surprised with the girls’ immediate success.
“You don’t know what they’ll do,” Lehane said. “Usually you just have to wait
and see with them. However, they are doing what we’d hope they would.”
Saturday’s meet was just another ingredient for BU in their recipe for success,
Lehane said.
“We went to a harder competition and got bopped over the head, and now we’re
responding to that,” Lehane said. “We’re getting that competitive footing — you
do your training, but really just go out and fight.”
With the impressive showing in Saturday’s meet, Lehane claims that the focus
has turned to winning the conference, something that may not have been feasible
from the start of the season.
“We’re three-fifths of the way there,” Lehane said. “It certainly won’t be easy
—
Defeating
“It’s going to be hard,” Iannacci said. “We really
have to step it up, and I think we can. We’re doing that as we go — we’re
really starting to pick up our intensity.”
“We’ll definitely give them a shot at it,” Jones added.