2010 Men's Cross Country Preview
September 10, 2010 | Men's Cross Country
Sept. 10, 2010
Seeking its first America East championship since 2000, the Boston University men's cross country team, with a veteran squad of 13 upperclassmen and key newcomers, is poised to make a run at the conference title.
"We can be very competitive this year and we have the ability to really surprise some people and possibly win the America East Championship," said head coach Bruce Lehane. "We've added quite a bit this year and we have a much more potent squad than last year."
With five runners counting toward a team's score, the cross country team will deploy a formidable top seven, including senior and team MVP Eric Ashe. The Hanson, Mass., native was BU's top runner last year and secured three top-10 finishes. Ashe took the title at the America East Pre-Championships with a time of 25:24.16 on the 8K course. He paced the Terriers with a fourth-place finish at the New England Championships and finished ninth at the America East Championships.
"Eric is vital to our success," said Lehane. "He was our MVP last year and he's in great shape."
Along with Ashe, senior Craig MacPherson, juniors Elliot Lehane and Peter Gilmore, and newcomers Matthew Paulson, Rich Peters and Robert Gibson highlight BU's top runners.
MacPherson enjoyed an impressive start to the 2009 campaign as he was BU's second finisher at the America East Pre-Championships and BU Invitational. At those races, MacPherson placed seventh and eighth, respectively.
Gilmore was one of BU's top and most consistent runners in 2009. He finished eighth overall at the America East Pre-Championships, 13th at the BU Invitational, 77th at the New England Championships, 15th at the America East Championships and 134th at the NCAA Northeast Regionals.
"Peter's a very accomplished distance runner," said Lehane. "He's worked real hard this summer and we're hoping he can get his time down about 25 to 30 seconds."
The Terriers will also look for a trio of newcomers - Gibson, Paulson and Peters - to make an immediate impact. A Brookline, Mass., native, Gibson is a former Massachusetts high school cross country champion and comes to BU via the University of Texas. Paulson joins the Terriers following two years at Union College and Peters makes his way to Boston from Bristol, England.
"All three runners have a high degree of natural running talent," said Lehane. "Robert and Rich have strong track times and Matthew's cross country ability is very high."
BU will also look for an experienced group of runners, including seniors Ken Haltom and James Weider, juniors Joe Greenspun and Balint Horvath, and sophomore Terence Galasso, to make significant contributions.
"This group has progressed really well since high school," credited Lehane. "They all give outstanding effort and have worked really hard. I expect them all to make contributions this fall."
Graduate student Jeff Moreau, juniors David Krinjak and Colin Lee, sophomores Michael Bhatt and Michael Caputo, and freshman Tom Waterman round out the season's squad.
BU will run its first four faces at Franklin Park, beginning with the Boston College Invitational on Sept. 11. The Terriers then host the America East Pre-Championships (Sept. 19), the New England Championships (Oct. 9) and the America East Championships (Oct. 30), where the squad will aim to capture its 11th conference title.
