2011 Men’s Cross Country Preview

Justin Hess is one of Keuka's co-captains for the 2011 season. The Storm will feature only two returners to go with a stable of talented freshmen.

Over the offseason, Keuka College cross country head coach Katie Marcella made it a prime goal to recruit talented youths to boost the numbers of both her men’s and women’s squads.

While the men’s squad is rather young, with only two returning runners, Marcella is excited about the talented, dedicated group of incoming freshmen that have committed to her men’s cross country program.

Juniors Justin Hess (Clyde, NY/Clyde-Savannah) and Joseph Reiss (Rochester, NY/Charlotte) are the lone holdovers from last season’s squad that finished ninth at the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC). Hess recorded top-five team finishes in all but one race in 2010, including a season-best time of 27 minutes during the season-opening SUNY IT Invitational. Reiss logged five top-five team finishes, including a 34:55 effort during the 8K SUNY Oswego Invitational on Sept. 11.

Hess and Reiss will serve as Keuka’s co-captains.

Newcomers Robert Fogle (Lockport, NY/Lockport), Alex Pollinger (Arkport, NY/Arkport), Shane Devlin (Manchester, NY/Red Jacket) lead the youth movement for the Storm, and Marcella expects those three freshman to step in and immediately contribute.

The rest of the Keuka roster includes senior Fred Tassone (Brewerton, NY/Central Square), sophomore Kyle Morgan (Alfred, NY/Alfred-Almond) and freshmen Lee Bottoni (Prattsburgh, NY/Prattsburgh), Sean Boutin (Cairo, NY/Cairo Durham) and Samuel Capozzi (Alpine, NY/Odessa Montour).

“The key to the men’s team is in our youth,” said Marcella, who enters her third season leading the Green and Gold.

“I am very excited about having the number of runners that we have this year. It really has been a rebuilding (effort) these last few years. … I’m excited to see what we can do this year, and the improvement that our men’s team will see from last season. … We have strong returning runners and I expect to be right in the mix in the NEAC.”

Keuka opens its season on the road Saturday at the fifth annual SUNY IT Invitational.