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2010 Women’s Cross Country Season Preview
September 2, 2010
Junior Stephanie Pontes will help lead the Storm in 2010.
The return of senior Chelsea Socha (Himrod, N.Y./Dundee), the program’s most prolific runner of all-time and holder of every record in the record book, paints a very nice picture for the 2010 women’s cross country team.
The fact that head coach Katie Marcella also welcomes back her No. 2 and No. 3 runners from a year ago gives the Storm a very good chance of improving on its sixth place finish at the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) championships.
Socha had a phenomenal junior year as she won four of the six races she ran in, set all three distance records, was named the NEAC Runner of the Year, and was the first women’s cross country runner in school history to run in the NCAA Division III Atlantic Regionals. She won the Hobart Invitational (twice), the Nazareth Invitational, and NEAC Championships. She posted a 5K time of 19:44 at the Hobart Invite and a 6K time of 23:31 at the SUNY Geneseo Invite, both school records. Socha finished her stellar season with a 52nd place finish at the Regionals.
Junior Stephanie Pontes (Pompton Lakes, NJ/Pompton Lakes) and sophomore Elizabeth Gorman (Waverly, N.Y./Waverly) also enjoyed solid seasons as Keuka’s No. 2 and No. 3 runners. Pontes posted a season-best 5K time of 22:14 at the Hobart Invite and was selected to the All-NEAC third team after her 19th place finish at the conference championships. Gorman was the Storm’s top-runner at the SUNYIT Invitational and had a 5K time of 22:51 at the Hobart Invite.
Also back is junior Maddie Reynolds (Clinton, N.Y./Clinton) and senior Mary Nicholas (Geneva, N.Y./DeSales). Reynolds finished in Keuka’s top five in every race and had a season-best 5K time of 26:31.
New to the squad this year will be Samantha Layton (Painted Post, N.Y./Corning West), Morgan McMahon (Owego, N.Y./Owego), and Lauren Roesch (Hanover, Pa/Southwestern).
Keuka will begin its season at the SUNYIT Invitational Sept. 4 and will conclude at the NEAC Championships Oct. 30.
