Clarion University’s men’s and women’s cross country teams are stepping up a level to start the 2002 season. The Golden Eagles open their season Saturday Sept. 7 at the Penn State Invitational.

"We are going big time," Clarion’s ninth-year head coach Pat Mooney said. "It is sort of like the football team going to Youngstown State.

"The women’s team is a much more experienced and ready to handle the meet. The men’s team, with six new kids, is going to take its lumps. But the meet should help us in the long run."

Mooney is excited about the Golden Eagle women’s team which will be led by junior Jen Boerner (Amherst, NY/Sweet Home) and sophomore Melissa Terwilliger (Blasdell, NY/Frontier).

"We could have qualifiers all the way to the national level this year," Mooney said. "That is how much confidence I have in the women. We might be a year away, but we are pretty close."

Boerner is Clarion’s No. 1 runner. Last season she earned NCAA Division II All-Region honors with a 13^th-place finish at the Regional meet (24:16). She just missed earning All-PSAC honors finishing 16^th (22:55.25) at the PSAC’s with the top 15 earning all-conference honors. Boerner also had a good track season finishing fifth in the 3,000 at the PSAC meet.

"Jen is only the second runner I have coached at Clarion to earn All-Region honors," Mooney said. "She is one of the top kids returning in the conference."

Terwilliger gives the Golden Eagles a good one-two punch. Last season she finished 24^th (23:20.52) at PSAC’s and 28^th (25:02) at Regionals and was consistently Clarion’s No. 2 runner during the season. She also had a good track season finishing fourth at the PSAC’s in the 10,000.

"Melissa showed her worth in cross country last season," Mooney said. "She just kept getting better once track season started.

"It is nice having our No. 1 and No. 2 runners back. We are strong at the top, and you need some leaders to help you out."

Not only are the Golden Eagles strong at the top, they are also very deep.

The No. 3 runner should be senior captain Katie Szafran (Bradford/Bradford). Last season Szafran was consistently Clarion’s No. 3 or No. 4 runner finishing 32^nd (23:36.67) at PSAC’s and 53^rd at NCAA’s (25:56).

"We also have Sarah Rodgers (Chicora/Moniteau), who was probably our No. 7 runner as a freshmen last year, coming back," Mooney said. "And another runner who has stepped up this year is Gayle Specht (Allison Park/Hampton). She looks like she is going to be in the mix."

Mooney is also excited about an incoming group of runners that include three freshmen and a junior who should all help the Golden Eagles.

The new runners are freshmen Anna Beck (Washington/Washington), Bridget Sardo (Jamestown, NY/Forest Hills) and Katie Jarzab (Oil City/Oil City) and junior transfer Evelyn Abiola (Staten Island, NY/Susan Langor HS).

"Anna was finished 14^th at the state cross country meet last year," Mooney said. "This summer she ran in the Junior Olympic Nationals and finished fourth in the 1,500. She is a legitimate runner.

"Bridget brings good track speed with her, and we are trying to convert it to cross country running, while Katie is a real sleeper who will do very, very well. I think the sky is the limit for her. Evelyn is a good middle distance runner with good half-mile credentials on the track."

According to Mooney, the Golden Eagles depth should help them this season.

"In cross country you are only as strong as your fifth runner in the big meets," Mooney said. "Our fifth runner hurt us last year. I wanted to make sure that wasn’t going to be a problem this year."

Clarion’s men’s cross country will be young in 2002 with five new faces dotting the nine-man active roster.

"We lost six of our 12 runners from last year," Mooney said. "We have six freshmen guys (five of whom will run this season) who, in a couple of years, should put us in good shape."

Clarion does have four runners returning with experience including senior captain John Snyder (Punxsutawney/Punxsutawney), junior A.J. Mayernik (Pittsburgh/North Allegheny), junior Chris Noal (Duncansville/Hollidaysburg) and red-shirt freshman Derek Parker (Pittsburgh/South Park). A fifth returning runner, who will take a red-shirt season this year, is David Duriancik (Vandergrift/Kisk Area)

Last season Mayernik was Clarion’s No. 1 or No. 2 runner in six of the seven meets. He finished 36^th (26:34.01) at PSAC’s and 41^st (36:17) at Regionals.

"A.J. is our top returning runner," Mooney said. "He was our best runner at times last season." Snyder finished 71^st (27:49.81) at PSAC’s last season and was the Golden Eagles No. 6 or No. 7 runner for most of the season.

"We hope and need him to move up," Mooney said.

Noal was not in the top seven for Clarion last year, but Mooney said he is looking very good this season and could be in the top five, while Parker red-shirted last year.

"We also brought in a strong recruiting class," Mooney said. "We are setting the frame work for the future."

Clarion’s No. 1 recruit, Sean Williams (Austintown, Ohio/Austin), has been hobbled by an injury for most of training camp, according to Mooney.

"On paper he is the best kid we have coming in," Mooney said. "How he is going to be, I don’t know. He hasn’t been able to run very much."

With Williams recovering, Mooney said Matt Reinhold (Pittsburgh/Chartiers Valley) is looking the best of all the freshmen who are running.

"I thought he was a sleeper last summer," Mooney said. "He proved me right. He just kept getting better as the year went on."

Three other freshmen, who Mooney is hoping will help the Golden Eagles out, are Matt Hartsock (Burnham/Indian Valley), Aaron Neely (Pittsburgh/North Hills) and Matt Andreassi (Butler/Butler).

"Matt has looked good in preseason practice," Mooney said. "We are real happy with him. Aaron is young and inexperienced, but he seems to get better when the distance gets longer. Matt is recovering from a injury from last spring, but he was the No. 1 runner for Butler last fall."

According to Mooney, having so many freshmen presents a welcomed challenge for the coaching staff.

"In many ways it is very exciting," Mooney said. "You have to go back to the very beginning. I did a lot of teaching this year. It has been a challenge to break things down and make them simple. We have to make sure everyone understands what we are doing."

GOLDEN EAGLE NOTES: Clarion has four other regular season meets on the schedule including Sept. 21 at IUP, Sept. 27 at Duquesne, Oct. 5 at Lock Haven and Oct. 26 at Gettysburg ... PSAC’s will be held Nov. 2 at Edinboro, while Regionals will be Nov. 9 at Davis & Elkins (W. Va.) ... The NCAA Division II meet will be Nov. 23 at Ashland.

by Chris Rossetti