'95 Men's X-C is Veteran and Balanced

Despite losing three-time All-American Joe Mahoney and two other consistent top-five finishers from the 1993 squad to graduation, while three other solid letterwinners were absent due to semesters abroad, the 1994 Wesleyan men's cross-country team got strong support from some newcomers to post a 4-1 dual-meets record and place 10th among New England Division III squads.

Freshmen Colin Rusch, Greg Bonynge, Mike VanNimwegen, and Pat Butler joined sophomore transfer Jeffers Egan to form the hub of the team. Team co-captain Chris Shepard and junior Jake Creswell also were consistent performers for the 1994 Cardinals and return for the 1995 season, giving Wesleyan seven talented letterwinners.

But it is the return of co-captain Marc Robaczynski and seniors Andrew Eisner and Andrew Mitchell, all of whom schooled abroad during the fall of 1994, which gives Wesleyan even more strength. Each was a solid runner and letterwinner on the 1993 squad that placed second of 26 New England Division III squads.

If past injuries which hampered a number of these strong runners are avoided, Wesleyan will have one of its deepest squads in years. Strong depth will depend on sophomores Seth Misterka, Jacob Buehler, Josh Hurwitz and Jason Gonzalez as well as veterans Andrew Fuys, Mike Garrett, Caleb Tucker-Raymond and Duncan Goldberg. Help also is expected from several of the newcomers, including Nate Browand, Dan Engler, Mike Keating, Patrick Keegan, Anders Peterson, George Peterson and John Raby.

'95 Wes Women's X-C Hoping to Repeat Last Year's Success

Coming away with a suprising strong showing at the 1994 New England Division III Championship, where the Cardinals finished fifth of 33 teams (and fourth among the 10 NESCAC teams present), Wesleyan hope to continue that momentum into the 1995 season.

Back are four of the seven runners who represented Wesleyan in the New England meet (co-captains Deb Levin and Miho Mazereeuw, Anne Fritz and Raquel Sanchez), but three of team's top four performers were lost to graduation, including two-time All-American Sarah Hann. Making up for the loss of Hann, Hannah Niswonger and Deb Tipton will be the key to the Cardinals retaining their status as one of the region's stronger squads. All three NESCAC teams which qualified for the NCAA Division III Championship place among the top 10 teams in the country, led by Williams (fourth), Bowdoin (seventh), and Colby (10th).

In addition to Levin, Mazereeuw, Fritz and Sanchez, the Cardinals will rely on the talents of returning letterwinners Rachel Hertzman and Sarah Brodsky along with other experienced runners Abigail Posner, Maria Reynolds, and Charlotte Scott. Help also must come from the newcomers with Ava Gordinier, Sara McMahon, and Marnie Randall the most likely to make contributions right from the start.

"It will be tough for us to do as well as we did a year ago," said head coach Elmer Swanson. "But I know this team will work hard to get better and by the end of the year, we just might be surprising a few more people."

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