Oct 4, 2008
Wilbur Finishes Second Overall At Tri-States
Lincoln, RI --- The Worcester State Men's Cross Country Team ran Saturday at the Tri -States Invitational held at CCRI at the Lincoln, RI campus. The Lancer's number one runner, Forest Wilber, finished second overall on a course that was changed from last year. Wilber, who set the course record on the old course in 2007 (26:22), ran what was probably his best race so far this year, going 27:31 for the 8K course this time. Wilber continues to return to last year's competitive level after a slower start to this season. The course was redesigned to eliminate running one hill portion twice in the race, but was equally challenging compared to the old course, o r even more so, as the hill portion now appears to be longer despite only having to run it once in the race.
Senior Chris Mancuso also seemed to improve some this week despite the difficulty of the course. Running more aggressively from the start, Mancuso finished in 36th place, and with a strong final kick with about 350m to go, passed a group of about five runners just in front him as he approached the finish line. Sophomore RJ Stahelski also seems to be starting to reap the rewards of hard work. Stahelski, who has been trying to change some of his body mechanics, seems to be succeeding as he ran a time faster than last year on this revised but still challenging course. Junior Norman Everett also ran faster than last year as he has all season. Also trying to change some body mechanics, Everett ran 43 seconds faster this time around.
The team all had impressive "kicks" to finish strong at the end of the race. The results this week were very encouraging. The Lancers will now train through Columbus Day weekend. The next two weeks will be filled with intensity and few tough, but critical workouts as the squad prepares for their upcoming conference meet at the end of October. The harriers will next run at Franklin Park in Boston at the Emmanual Invitational on Friday, October 17, 2008 before participating in the MASCAC meet a week later.
Release Courtesy of Al Halper --- Men's Cross Country Coach
