by Jim Mullins
Assistant Director
Sports Information

Corsairs will be young for 1998 but newcomers provide a bright future

UMass Dartmouth men's cross country coach John Hird says he has more question marks than exclamation points as he looks at the Corsairs' lineup heading into the 1998 season.

The departure of UMass Dartmouth's top runner from last year, Gary Mello, who transferred to Bentley College this year, leaves the Corsairs with only two runners returning from last year's team.

Junior Pat Gallagher (Fairhaven, MA) and sophomore Jeff Reed (Westport, MA) will be looked upon to provide leadership both off and on the cross country course during the 1998 season, according to Hird.

Two first-year runners will also have a chance to run to the front of the pack Hird said as he prepares for the new season. Jeff Cimon (Lowell, MA) and Brian Akeley (Peabody, MA) finished fifth and 11th, respectively, in the Massachusetts Class A high school meet last year and followed that with 23rd and 24th place finishes in the Massachusetts All-State Meet.

Backing up Cimon and Akeley, along with Gallagher and Reed, should be freshman John Fitton (Westport, MA), a 2:00 800-meter runner, Chris Rogers (Weymouth, MA) and Jason Caisse (No. Hubbardston, MA).

While the Corsairs should fair better than last year, the large number of newcomers with no college racing experience would suggest that Hird and his assistant Coach Joe McCarthy may need the entire season to train and blend together a winning team by championship season in November.

Hird feels the Corsairs have a chance of placing in the top three in the Little East/New England Alliance Championships but may find the NCAA regionals at Babson College very stiff competition for 1998.

However, Hird pointed out, 1999 could be a much different story.

UMass Dartmouth's men's team will compete in the Wheaton College Relays and the Amherst College Invitational the first two weeks of September before returning to campus to play host for the 26th annual UMass Dartmouth Invitational.

The Corsairs will also participate in the New England Championships at Franklin Park on Oct. 16 and the Little East/New England Alliance meet at Westfield State College on Oct. 31.

The ECAC Division III Championship race will be hosted by Tufts University on Nov. 7 with the season concluding Nov. 7 with the NCAA Division III regional championship at Babson College on Nov. 14.