Boston College Athletics
Men's Cross Country Outlook
August 24, 2006 | Men's Track & Field
Aug. 24, 2006
The 2006 men's cross country team will look to build off last year's accomplishments, including a 3rd place finish at the New England Championships, an 8th place finish in the ACC, and a 9th place finish at the NCAA Northeast Regional, with a young and talented squad. With a year of ACC competition under the belt, Head Coach Randy Thomas, who is entering his 14th year at BC, is optimistic about the Eagles' chances for a real exciting year of cross country, as the teams has added quality and depth in this year's incoming class.
Thomas believes this year's squad has the talent and depth to be a top contender in New England and a top-five finisher in the ACC. While the men lose the experience and leadership of Joseph Lesniak and Brenton Wheatley to graduation, Thomas will look to senior Mark Alizzi and senior Stephen Walsh to fill those gaps. Thomas has announced that Alizzi and Walsh will be co-captains of this year's cross country squad.
"Mark (Alizzi) returns looking to be in the top 20 in the ACC and has all-ACC honors potential," Thomas said. "He was a co-captain of the team last year and demonstrated his leadership qualities." Alizzi returns to the Heights after stellar season as a junior. He consistently finished among the top three BC runners. He competed at the Northeast Regional, finishing with a time of 31minutes, 55 seconds, more than a minute improvement over his sophomore year. He was also second among BC runners at the New England Championship, and third at the ACC Championship. He showed tremendous strength in winning the 10,000m title at the New England Outdoor Track and Field Championships last spring.
Junior Patrick Mellea was consistently the team's #1 runner and finished 18th at the conference championship as a sophomore, but first amongst BC runners with a time of 24 minutes, 29 seconds. He just missed all-ACC honors, which is the top 15 finishers. Mellea also finished 35th at the Northeast Regional with a time of 31 minutes, 14 seconds. Patrick was an impact runner on the track by placing 6th at the ACC Indoor Track Championships in the 1-mile and setting a personal best of 14 minutes, 32 seconds last year in the 5,000 meters at the ACC Outdoor Track Championships.
As a freshman last fall, Tim Ritchie was the rookie of the year for the Eagles. He was the 4th highest placing freshman at the ACC Championships and the 3rd runner for the team behind Mellea and Alizzi. Ritchie, Mellea and Alizzi all have all-ACC talent according to coach Thomas.
Sophomore Corey Ahern, who did not run cross country last year because of mononucleosis, did participate in outdoor track last spring, and competed well at the 5000 meters event. "When you add Ahern to the top 3 returnees, Alizzi, Mellea, and Ritchie, we have the best 1-4 runners on one squad in the last 10 years," according to coach Thomas.
Senior Stephen Walsh returns to BC after an impressive junior year. At the conference championship in 2005, Walsh finished fourth on the team, coming in at 25 minutes, 24 seconds. Randy Thomas will look to Walsh as one of the top five runners again in 2006. "Every team is only as good as its 5th runner." Thomas said. "David Emerson and (Stephen) Walsh give excellent talent at the fifth position." Emerson is returning for his sophomore season. Also looking to make an impact on the team's top-7 are newcomers, Jordan Peeples of Brattleboro, VT and Eric Couture from Rochester, NH. Peeples was the New England High School 3200m Champion last spring and Couture finished 7th at the New England High School Cross Country Championships last fall.
"Talent wise, this is the best team in the past decade," Thomas said. "Depth wise this is the best in my 20 years of coaching."
First up for the Eagles this season is hosting the Boston College Invitational at Franklin Park on Sept. 15. The New England Championships and Mayor's Cup will be held on Oct. 7 and Oct 22, respectively, also at Franklin Park. The Eagles will then travel to the University of Virginia for the ACC Championship on Oct. 28, before heading to Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, NY for the NCAA Northeast Regional on Nov. 11. The NCAA Championships will be held this year at Indiana State University on Nov. 20.
