Men's & Women's Cross Country

2007 Women's Season Recap

The 2007 women’s cross country team experienced one of its most successful campaigns in recent years. They captured three team titles for the first time since 1999, including just their second Worcester City Championship in 12 years, coupled with the Community College of Rhode Island (1st/4) and Western New England College (1st/12) Invitationals. The Cougars also improved its performance at the NEWMAC Championships with their eighth place showing – one spot higher than the previous season.

Graduate student Emily Tremaine led the Cougar pack this season. She claimed the Worcester City individual title and set a new course record at CCRI in a time of 19:36. Tremaine also earned her first-ever All-Conference honor after finishing sixth at the NEWMAC Championships this fall.

Tremaine, along with seniors Jenna Glazer, Ellen Durand and Keri Powers, junior Kaitlyn Sephton, and sophomores Mary Martin and Emma Siemasko concluded their season at the NCAA Division III Regional Cross Country Championships. The women raced to a 24th place finish in the 47-team field.

Tremaine, Sephton, Martin, Siemasko and junior Kimberly Choate were all named to the NEWMAC All-Academic squad

2007 Men's Recap

The up-and-coming men’s cross country squad made significant strides this season. Relying on just two seniors for leadership, the Cougars improved their standing within the conference with a sixth place finish (174 points) – one position higher than last year – and three top-five team performances. Included in that huddle is a second place showing at the Roger Williams Invitational (RWU), and third at the Western New England College (WNEC) and Community College of Rhode Island Invitationals (CCRI), respectively. Although Clark placed fourth at the Worcester City Championships for the second straight season, they upped their point total by 12 points this fall.

Senior Thomas McCarthy, who topped the team with five first place finishes, paced Clark in a pair of those meets finishing eighth (27:27) at CCRI and ninth (28:36) at WNEC. Additionally, he was the first Cougar to cross the finish line with his 39th place performance (28:03.40) at the NEWMAC meet. Junior Caleb Evanter also picked up a couple of team victories with a 27th place showing (29:34.10) at the Smith Invitational and his time of 29:16 at Roger Williams. Both McCarthy and Evanter represented Clark at the NCAA Division III Regional Cross Country Championships, placing 133rd (27:07.08) and 186th (28:21.5), respectively.

Not only were they performers on the course, but Clark cross country achieved in the classroom as well. Thomas McCarthy ’08, Caleb Evanter ’09 and Lee Stone ‘09 were named to the NEWMAC All-Academic squad.

2007 Men's Season Preview

The Clark University men’s cross country team will hit the ground running this fall as they look to carry over their success from last year. The Cougars will get a quick look at conference action, as they travel to the Smith Invitational for the first race of the season. This year’s New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championship meet will be held at the same course, providing the team with invaluable experience on the course. The team will return to the Worcester City Meet, where they posted a fourth place finish last year.

The Cougars are paced by senior Thomas MacCarthy, who led his team to a second place finish at last season’s WNEC Invitational, crossing the line seventh overall. The club will look to junior Caleb Evanter, who placed 13th in Clark’s second place finish at the Roger Williams Invitational last year, to step up after graduating several seniors. The Cougars will also look to Martin Leggett and William Nodding, two incoming freshman with great potential, to make an impact on the team.

Head Coach Chris D’Aniello, returning for his sixth year at the helm, is optimistic about the team’s potential this season. “We’ve returned a lot of [veteran runners] and have some top-tier recruits,” he says of the running corps. “The challenge is the learning curve for the freshman, moving from three miles to five miles. It’s a whole new world for them.” To combat this challenge and get the youngsters up to speed, the team held a summer camp at Miles Standish State Park in Plymouth, Mass. The camp, run by the captains, gave the team a chance to get in some extra training as well as team bonding.

Coach D’Aniello will be joined by Assistant Coach Louis Cote this season. Cote ran under D’Aniello’s leadership as an undergraduate at Worcester State College and is an avid local runner.

By Sports Information Intern, Bill Cobb

2007 Women's Season Preview

The Clark University Women’s Cross Country team looks to get off to a fast start this season with a core group of returning veterans aided by a promising freshman class. The Cougars will get a quick look at conference action, as they travel to the Smith Invitational for the first race of the season. This year’s New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championship meet will be held at the same course, providing the team with invaluable experience. The team will return to the Worcester City Meet, where they posted a third place finish last year.

Ellen Durand, who placed fourth at last year’s Western New England College Invitational en route to a second-place team finish, will set the pace for the Cougars this season. Junior Kaitlyn Sephton, who crossed the line sixth at the WNEC meet, will be right on Durand’s heels as the team’s top runners. The team will also look to the returning Emily “The Pain” Tremaine and incoming freshman Jill Johnson to contribute at the top of the Cougar pack.

Despite losing three key runners to graduation, sixth-year Head Coach Chris D’Aniello is optimistic about the team’s potential this season. “We’ve returned a lot of [veteran runners] and have some top-tier recruits,” he says of the running corps. “I think we’re in a better place heading into the season than last year.” To get the youngsters up to speed the team held a summer camp at Miles Standish State Park in Plymouth, Mass. The camp, run by the captains, gave the team a chance to get in some extra training as well as team bonding.

Coach D’Aniello will be joined by Assistant Coach Louis Cote this season. Cote ran under D’Aniello’s leadership as an undergraduate at Worcester State College and is an avid local runner.

By Sports Information Intern, Bill Cobb

About the Program

The men’s and women’s cross country teams compete in both invitational and dual meets during the regular season. Clark’s cross-country runners practice in the many city and state parks near the University, taking long-distance runs through the wooded reservoir area of the neighboring town of Holden. At the end of the season the team competes for the NEWMAC Championship with the season culminating at the ECAC and NCAA New England Division III championships.

In Fall 2003, Clark unveiled its new cross-country course, located about 20 minutes from campus in the neighboring town of Boylston. The Cougars host invitationals on this challenging course, a combination of wooded trails and open fields set within 269 acres of woodland, mixed-hardwood forest and community park land.

The 2005 men's cross country team proved to be one of the deepest and most talented group of runners that Clark has fielded in over a decade. Paced by Mitchell Paulin ’07 at the NCAA Regional Meet, the Cougars placed 25th of 43 teams in a highly competitive field. Dan Roberts ’07 led Clark to fifth place in the NEWMAC Championship, which was the team’s best finish in the conference championship. Thomas McCarthy ’08 won the Worcester City Meet on Clark’s home course and also finished as the top Cougar runner at the Roger Williams Invitational, which Clark won for the second straight year. The future is bright as the top seven runners return for the 2006 season.

The women’s cross country team competed well throughout the season with a very young squad that included 13 new team members. Emily Tremaine ’07 had an outstanding season and led the Cougars in every race. Tremaine placed 64th of 227 runners at the ECAC Championship and paced Clark to 14th place overall in a field of 29 teams. Additional team highlights included a top-three finish at three meets.