The young runners on the Syracuse cross country team deservedly received a lot of attention for their role in the program’s successful season. But relying on so many underclassmen may have been the downfall for the Orange in Friday’s Big East Championship at Franklin Park in Boston.

Having faced only unranked opponents, SU had confidence entering the meet. The more inexperienced competitors had never been exposed to nationally-ranked programs like Providence, Georgetown, Notre Dame and Louisville.

‘We have a lot of young kids and a lot of people who haven’t been in the position to see this team do well,’ SU head coach Chris Fox said. ‘We just didn’t quite respond to the big setting.’

The meet was bittersweet for SU, which snapped its undefeated season. Even though sophomore Nana Sang-Bender was named to the All-Big East cross country team, the men’s fifth place and women’s seventh place finishes were below expectations.

The 30 All-Big East runners were the top 15 men and women finishers at Friday’s race. Sang-Bender earned a spot by placing ninth overall – first for the Orange – at 21:13. Sophomore Jeff Scull missed the cut by just one place, coming in 16th overall at 24:16.

Even though having one All-Big East runner and nearly having two seems like a positive for a rising program, Fox was not completely satisfied.

‘I’m really happy for Nana because she has come such a long way over the last two years,’ he said. ‘But mostly it’s just OK. We thought we would have someone else up there with her, and we thought we would have two freshmen in the top 20, so it was really a letdown day.’

No freshman finished in the top 20 for the Orange. Jay Koloseus came close, finishing second for SU, second out of all freshmen and 22nd overall. Senior Chris Muldoon, freshman Dan Busby and junior Kyle Heath rounded out the SU top five on the men’s side.

Even though junior Liz Cufari and senior Amanda Hicks both finished in the top 45 – second and third for SU – the women’s result was especially surprising to coach and players alike.

‘I was pleased with the men because (fifth) is where we thought we would finish,’ Fox said. ‘On the women’s side I was disappointed. They should have done as well as the men if not a little better even.’

‘I was very disappointed because I really expected to finish in the top-five as a team,’ Sang-Bender said. ‘With all the training and everything we have done under Coach Fox, we definitely should have done better.’

Despite finishing below expectations, Sang-Bender’s individual achievement was definitely a positive note to an otherwise disappointing meet. She became only the third woman in school history to earn All-Big East accolades, joining Alicia Hauber and her teammate Cufari, who was recognized last season.

Although she realizes All-Big East is an honor, Sang-Bender has personal goals extending beyond just the conference.

‘It’s an accomplishment, I cannot deny it, but I am looking beyond just the Big East,’ Sang-Bender said. ‘I am looking to be recognized nationally. The coach has me looking big and I believe in what he’s doing. It’s nice to be recognized by the Big East, but I am looking bigger than that.’

The team has two weeks off before its most important meet of the year: NCAA Regionals. Because the regions are created geographically, most of the teams that beat SU from the Big East will not be competing against the Orange.

Although there will be different opponents, SU hopes to take the knowledge gained at the Big East to Regionals. Now familiar with strong competition, a top-two finish and a berth in the NCAA Championships is not unreasonable.

‘Everyone, especially the younger runners, will be much more relaxed next time,’ Fox said. ‘You can expect to see a marked improvement from what you saw this week.’

Published on October 29, 2006 at 12:00 pm