Sept. 6, 2007

Entering his 13th season as the Sacred Heart Cross Country team's head coach, Christian Morrison has built the Pioneer's into a program that can challenge the best teams in the Northeast Conference year in and year out. Entering he 2007 campaign, Morrison will have a wealth of youth on the women's side while fielding his deepest and most experience men's squad in the program's history.

The SHU women will rely on a talented freshman class as they look to challenge preseason favorite Quinnipiac at this year's championship race. Heading into the season, the Pioneers will look to a trio of freshman to lead the way. Lebanon, Connecticut natives and identical twins Dana and Samantha Troy join the program after stellar high school careers and will look to help replace graduated twin sisters Katie and Anne Duffy. In addition, freshman Kimberly DeLoreto (Hillsdale, NJ) brings a tremendous amount of experience on the track as she competes in her first cross country season.

The Troy's led their high school team to four-straight Connecticut Class SS State Championships in cross country while also leading their team to the 2005 New England Championship and the 2006 Connecticut State Open. Dana Troy was an All-State runner all four of her years and All-New England twice. She has personal bests of 5:09 for 1600 meters and 11:06 for 3200 meters. She also was the Class S state champion indoors in the 3200 meters in 2007. Samantha Troy ran personal bests of 5:20 for 1600 meters and 11:38 for two miles. She was All-State twice in cross country.

DeLoreto brings tremendous potential after only took up distance running at the end of her junior year in high school. She has already run personal bests of 2:17 (800 meters), 5:18 (1600 meters), and 11:30 (3200 meters). This spring she was the Group 2 New Jersey State Champion in the 3200 meters.

Mixing with the Pioneer youth movement is a group of experienced runners who return this fall. With junior Kathleen Henry (Basking Ridge, NJ) redshirting this season, sophomore Sarah Tencza (Succasunna, NJ) is the Pioneer's top returning runner. Tencza ran in the SHU top-five all last season and is expected to be there again. Other returnees expected to vie for spots in the top-seven include sophomore Theresa Campbell (Colonia, NJ), junior Mary Coakley (Plattsburgh, NY), sophomore Cristina Soares (Naugatuck, CT) and senior co-captain Amanda McLaughlin (Stony Point, NY).

Other freshmen who could contend for varsity spots include Kimberly Hudock, who has a 5:16 1600 meters to her credit, and is the Hudson County (NJ) all-time record holder in the event, and Erin McPherson, who was the Catholic Central League (MA) champion in the 3200 meters indoors and outdoors this past year. Megan Rose and Caitlin Clark are other freshmen who could may a play for a varsity spot.

"The team is a little smaller than usual, and we're younger than we've been in years, but we have many talented athletes on our roster," stated Morrison. "We have a lot of athletes contending for varsity spots right now, and despite our youth, I think we're going to be pretty good this year."

On the men's side, the Pioneers were picked ninth in the NEC preseason poll but Morrison sees his team pressing for one of the top-spots come championship time. The Pioneers will field their largest and potentially their best in school history, returning all of their top-runners from a year ago while adding a talented recruiting class.

"I'm very optimistic," commented the head coach. "The guys worked really hard this summer, and we have more talent and depth than ever before. I think we're going to surprise some people."

SHU has seven returnees who are ready to make a big impact led by junior co-captains David Jones (Ballston Lake, NY) and John Kenworthy (Gloversville, NJ). Joining the duo is junior Joseph Palma (Gladstone, NJ) and sophomores Brendan Rickert (Danbury, CT) and Ryan Murdoch (Niantic, CT), all of whom ran in the top-seven on a regular basis last year. Jones won the Fairfield Invitational last fall while Kenworthy (3000 meter steeplechase) and Palma (1500 meters) both scored in the outdoor NEC's last spring to solidify their status as two of the better distance runners in the conference.

Also returning to the mix is sophomore Luis German (Southampton, NY), who redshirted last year. German has established himself as one of the top distance runners in the NEC and is SHU's indoor school record holder in the 1000 meters (2:28), and outdoor school record holder in the 1500 meters (3:59). Last winter, he scored in the indoor NEC's in both the mile and 800 meters and in the outdoor NEC's in both 1500 meters and 800 meters. He also anchored SHU's third place 4 x 800 meter relay team.

SHU's other returning redshirt runner is sophomore Matthew Chorney (Bristol, NH), who was named All-New England in the 4x800 relay last spring. He also ran 15:50 for 5000 meters on the track.

Leading this year's freshman class is Andrew Houghtalen (West Charlton, NY), who owns personal bests of 9:17 for 3200 meters, 4:20 for 1600 meters, and 1:55 for 800 meters. Houghtalen comes in as one of the best distance recruits in program history and should make an immediate impact in SHU's top-five.

Other returnees who could contend for a top-seven varsity spot include sophomores Michael Bellio (Fitchburg, MD) and Matthew Miller (Blauvelt, NY). Two other freshmen, Alessio Asaro (Forest Hills, NY) and James Curran (Hazlet, NJ), will also be in the mix. Asaro ran 15:55 for 5000 meters on the track in high school, and Curran was a first team All-Section cross country runner in Central New Jersey last fall. Other promising newcomers who will put pressure on the team's top runners include Steven Pawlowski (Middleton, MA), Frank Morrone (West Haven, CT), Daniel Koehler (Red Hook, NY) and Samuel Silliman (Portland, CT).