FSU XC Is Young And Poised To Make Run At MASCAC Title

Courtesy of Matt Stewart, Sentinel & Enterprise

FITCHBURG -- The Fitchburg State University men's cross country team had a strong season last year, and looks to do the same in 2014.

How well the season goes will depend on the development of the Falcons' young runners, as the majority of the 35-man roster is made up of underclassmen.

"It's either the biggest team we've ever had or the second-biggest," longtime Fitchburg State head coach Jim Jellison said. "We have a very, very young team. We only have three seniors and have 11 freshmen and about the same amount of sophomores. We're looking at a couple-year plan to get these guys strong."

Last year the Falcons took home second place at the MASCAC championship meet, and although this year's team is a little on the young side, there is a good possibility of a repeat performance.

"I truly think we can be in the top three with a young team. But with a young team on any given day you can end up first, second, or end up fourth," Jellison said. "You just never know. That's why we run the schedule that we do against tougher competition, so there's less pressure in the MASCAC, which is the biggest meet, in the grand scheme of things."

With so many young runners it is not a shock that the front-runner for the Falcons will be a freshman. Brian Amaral is a sophomore in academic rank, but after transferring to FSU second semester freshman year, will be a freshman for cross country purposes.

Jellison thinks Amaral has a good shot of doing well at the conference championship, especially after an outdoor track season in which he qualified for the Division 3 championships and ECACs in the 10K and 5K.

"Amaral is a very hard worker and a natural talent. He listens," Jellison said. "My expectations are that if he's not the MASCAC champion that he'll be in the top three.

"I truly believe he'll be the rookie of the year. All of this is barring injury and illness, but that's how good he is. He's a natural talent."

It looks like Fitchburg State also has a diamond in the rough with emerging star Jake Hastings.

The Monty Tech graduate and FSU freshman was a little obscure in the high school ranks, but showed a lot of promise to his Fitchburg State coaches.

"Hastings told me he was running about 25 miles a week in high school,"

Fitchburg State assistant coach Chris Kibler said. "Some of our guys will do 60 to 80 miles a week. The times he ran in high school were all natural ability, you're not gaining that much fitness with that lack of mileage.

" It takes a while, but once he adapts to this training style, the volume and intensity, the sky is the limit."

Another local freshman is in the same boat as Hastings, and actually had slightly better times in high school.

Sean Beverly, a Lunenburg native and Parker Charter graduate, will likely be a good contributor and important piece to the Falcons' efforts.

"(Both Hastings and Beverly) came from good high school programs, but it's good that they weren't pushed to the high school limit," Kibler said. "They are fresh here and have a lot of room for improvement, which is how I entered Fitchburg State. It's exciting to see how they develop."

Matt Cuomo, Tim Allen and Jim Quinlan are some of the mainstays making a return to the team, while some of the surprising newcomers include Mark Tonelli (Ayer) and Alex Napolitan. Rocky Eithier and Joe Little are a couple of athletes in the shadows who might step up this year.

"Our experience has fluctuated, and this year is definitely a younger team," Quinlan said.

"The three captains are going to have to step it up this year, but we still have the potential to do some damage at the MASCACs. We look to have a strong year, but in the years to come they're going to be an unstoppable team."

The large roster is a major asset when it comes to training, allowing runners to focus their practice in smaller groups, arranged by similar fitness level.

"We have a lot of good groups," FSU captain Ethan Gorecki said. "Some kids do a little bit more, others are more in the middle, but there's enough people that everybody has someone to run with all the time.