2002 Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Review:

UMass Dartmouth men take second and women are fourth at 2002 Alliance Cross Country Championships

(Dartmouth, MA) – UMass Dartmouth capped the 2003 cross country season with a second place finish in the Alliance Men’s Championship and a fourth place finish in the Alliance Women’s Championship. At the ECAC Division III Championships, the Corsair women finished off the season with a 16th place finish from a field of 43 teams.

For Coach Jon Hird’s men, Corey Bachand (Norton, MA) was the top runner at the men’s Alliance Championship held November 2 at Keene State, placing seventh overall in a time of 26:45 over the five-mile course at Keene State. Abdulgani Abdi (Brockton, MA) was two places behind Bachand in ninth place at 26:58 and teammate Jeremy Nute (Westborough, MA) took 13th place in 27:10. In the women’s race, Stephanie Hunt (Shirley, MA) led the Corsairs with an eighth-place finish in 20:21 over the 5,000-meter course. Carolyn Conroy (Westport, MA) was 13th in 20:46 and Lindsay Nygaard (Westport, MA) was 28th in 21:29.

One week later at Williams College. Hunt had the Corsairs’ best finish at the ECAC Division III Championship race. She placed 28th over the 6,000-meter course in a time of 25:29. Conroy was 40th in 25:43 and Nygaard was 52nd in 25:58.

Among the other cross country highlights for the Corsairs in 2002:

• Abdi placed 51st overall with a time of 25:20 at the New England Championships held Oct. 11 in Boston. Competing against collegiate runners from all divisions, the Corsairs placed 34th overall. Conroy’s 20:32 finish put her in 212th place as the Corsair women took 40th in the women’s event.
• Abdi had a fifth-place finish in the Codfish Bowl Invitational in Boston on Sept. 28 as the Corsair men took eighth in a field of 17 teams. Bachand was next for UMass Dartmouth in 13th place at 26:30 and Pat Joyce (Weymouth, MA) was 38th in 27:37. Conroy led the women with a time of 20:53 for 26th overall as the Corsairs finished ninth among 13 teams.
• In the Buddy Harris Memorial men’s varsity race at the annual UMass Dartmouth Invitational, the Corsairs placed 17th overall in a field of 31 teams. The race was named in honor of a former Corsair cross country and track runner who passed away earlier this year. Abdi led the Corsairs with a ninth place finish over the 8,040-meter course, finishing with a time of 25:49.42. Nute was the Corsairs’ second runner to cross the finish line, taking 74th in 27:41.98. Among the other Corsair men in the race, Joyce was 98th in 28:20.16, Jason Van Vaerwenewyck (Sharon, MA) was 135th in 29:33.52 and Derek Provost (Peabody, MA) was 168th in 31:14.35.
• Hunt was the first Corsair to cross the finish line in 80th place with a time of 20:02, while Conroy finished 98th in 20:19. UMass Dartmouth finished 23rd in a field of 37 teams.
• Abdi was the individual winner at the Roger Williams University Invitational on Sept. 14 His time of 27:47 set the pace while Bachand was second in 28:00. Hunt led the Corsairs with a 17th place finish in 20:59 and Conroy was 18th in 21:09.