2022 Cross Country Season Preview
9/1/2022
The Brown men’s and women’s cross country programs are on the eve of a new season, as they are set to race for the first time in 2022 on Friday afternoon at the Suffolk Short Course Classic at Franklin Park in Boston.
The race will kick off a season that will see the teams compete at seven different meets over the next two months, culminating with the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships at the end of October. Three races will be at Franklin Park and both teams will take part in the Nassaney Invitational at Bryant on Sept. 10. Brown will host the annual Rothenberg Run on Friday, Oct. 21 in Attleboro, Massachusetts in their final tune-up ahead of Heps in the Bronx on October 29.
The Roster
Both squads welcome back a large number of returners, with 13 of the 16 men’s runners returning from last year’s team, while the women return 19 and welcome seven newcomers to the 2022 team. While a good number of the returners are young, many saw a large amount of race experience last season.
The Bears are coached by Ken Hunt, who was recently promoted to the Alden-Rothenberg Men's and Women's XC/Track & Field Coaching Chair. For the second consecutive season, assistant coaches Kurt Benninger and Hannah-Chappell-Dick will take the lead with the men's and women's cross country programs, respectively.
“I think the preseason has been awesome,” Chappell-Dick said. They are really gelling well. We took a trip to Camp Fuller down in Narragansett, which was great for the team to get to know each other off the cross country course. The team dynamic is really good and everyone has bought into the process. This year there is a real sense of continuity and people are excited to build off of that.”
“I would say that a lot of our team leaders from last year have graduated,” Chappell-Dick said. “The personality and culture have changed a lot and we’re really excited to see what this next batch of seniors can do and how they step up to fill the void from a leadership and performance standpoint. There’s a lot of returners and I’m excited to see how they will step up and take ownership of the team.”
Women's Team Outlook
Brown will look to replace a pair of graduated seniors in Emily Kompelien and Katherine Dokholyan, who led the Bears’ pack in all seven meets last season. With a young core of underclassmen making up much of the rest of the team’s pack, Brown returns a large number of athletes who saw significant race experience last year who are poised to make a push to the front this season.
“We lost our top two frontrunners from last year but have maintained much of the rest of our pack,” Chappell-Dick said. “The women’s team is poised to be strong this year. We have a really good group of freshmen who are all set to contribute and a really high level.”
Among the returners expected to be a key contributor is senior Lily Harding who walked on the team last year and became one of the team’s top performers. Junior Isa Stronski also returns after a strong finish to last season where she finished in the team’s top three in each of her final four meets.
“I’m excited that our sophomores Maxine Montoya and Isolde McManus will have a chance to contribute as returners,” Chappell-Dick said. “They performed well as freshmen but really see them stepping up this year.”
Men's Team Outlook
On the men’s side, the Bears return a solid young core that made contributions last season and will look to build on that experience to make the leap forward in 2022. Junior Evan Sherman is back after leading Brown’s pack in two of his four meets last season. Sophomore Miles Mullins had a big impact in his 2021 freshman campaign, finishing second on the team in all four of his races.
The group will look to step up and fill the void left by graduated seniors Griffin McCauley who led the pack three times last season, and Jared Yabu, the team’s top placer at Heps and Regionals.
“Evan Sherman is really fit and been working out really well, and we’re really excited to see how he can translate that into racing this year,” Chappell-Dick said. “Aaron Siff-Scherr was really strong in track last year and will help to bring along the other guys. Sam Colton, Miles Mullins, and Justin Hickey are developing as sophomores and should be towards the front as well.”
Bruno will also look to senior Nate Price to help lead the team this year after finishing in the team’s top five on four occasions in 2021, and senior Colby Zarle should also contribute this year after missing 2021 due to injury.
