GOLDEN EAGLES HARRIERS READY FOR PSAC MEET

            The Clarion University men’s and women’s cross country teams are ready to go for the gold at the 2003 PSAC Cross Country meet Saturday at Bloomsburg.

            “We are excited,” Clarion’s 10^th-year head coach Pat Mooney said. “We are peaking at the right time.

            “Both teams will really do as well as their fifth runner does. If the fifth runner on the women’s team does as well as I think she can that should get us pretty close to the top. If the fifth runner on our men’s team gets up there, it could vault us into the top 10.”

CLARION WOMEN LOOKING TO CONTINUE SUCCESS OF LAST SEASON

            The Golden Eagle women’s team will be looking to continue the success it enjoyed last year when Clarion finished third, the best finish in school history.

            “At the start of the season I was really optimistic about this year,” Mooney said. “But at the start of the year we had some set backs, and because of that we are seeded sixth. But right now I think we are running as well as we have all season, and I think we are ready to pick up where we left off last year.

            “Overall, we are stronger up front than last year, and we have more depth. This team is pretty solid if we get everybody on the same page.”

            Clarion has a lot of experience back from last season’s PSAC meet including all four of its All-PSAC runners: Melissa Terwilliger (6^th place), Evelyn Abiola (11^th place), Jen Boerner (12^th place) and Bridget Sardo (14^th place).

            Three of those four runners – Terwilliger, Boerner and Sardo – have been strong this season while Abiola, a senior, has been slowed by a verity of factors but could be a surprise at the PSAC meet.

            “Evelyn has been slowed a little this year,” Mooney said. “But I haven’t given up on her. I think she is ready to run a good race, and I won’t be surprised if she finishes in the top 15 again.”

            Terwilliger, a junior, was slowed by an injury that kept her out all of September. But she has come back strong to finish in the top four of Golden Eagle finishers in the last two meets.

            “Since she resumed running, she has gotten better each week,” Mooney said. “I know she will be ready for this meet. She is a gamer, and she is running well. I expect her to be all-conference again.”

            Boerner, senior, has been a consistent force throughout the season finishing as Clarion’s No. 2 runner four times.

            “Jen has been the backbone for the team,” Mooney said. “She is always where she wants to be, and she has added leadership and maturity this year. We are counting on her to be right in the thick of things again.”

            Sardo, a sophomore, has been in the top five twice and is coming off her best race of the season when she finished 28^th at Duquesne Oct. 17.

            “Bridget has moved up the last couple of meet,” Mooney said. “She will be one of the keys to how well we do. She provides very good depth and experience as our No. 5 runner right now.”

            Joining the returning All-PSAC runners are two runners who have a shot at All-PSAC honors this season including Anna Beck and Sarah Rodgers.

            Beck was an All-Region runner last season rebounding from a 45^th place finish at PSAC’s to finish 9^th at Regionals. This season she has been on a roll finishing as Clarion’s No. 1 runner in all five meets including a second-place finish at IUP Sept. 20, a 10^th-place finish at Lock Haven Sept. 27 and a 9^th-place finish at Bucknell Oct. 3.

            “Anna has had a real solid season,” Mooney said. “She is running well, and I expect her to be one of the top five runners at the PSAC’s. She has been leading us all year and has been setting the place for us. She is doing really well.”

            Rodgers, a junior, has been a steady runner for the Golden Eagles all season finishing as Clarion’s No. 2 runner once, its No. 3 runner three times and the No. 4 runner once.

            “Sarah was our No. 8 runner last year,” Mooney said. “She has really worked hard to move up into the top 7. I could see it starting last season in track when she qualified for the conference meet, and she has carried that right through the summer and is running very, very well right now. She is a real success story.”

            Additional runners to watch for include Katie Jarzab, Melissa Harkins and Mary Smith.

            “We have a lot of depth,” Mooney said. “But we will only be as good as our fifth runner. We really need runners No. 6-9 to move up to the fifth spot and push that spot up as far as we can. We have potentially four of five kids who can do that. Some of those kids did it last year.”

GOLDEN EAGLE MEN LOOKING TO MOVE UP IN THE STANDINGS

            The Clarion men’s team is looking to move up in the standings at the PSAC’s after finishing 12^th  last season with a young squad.

            “We are still young with only one senior,” Mooney said. “Our goal is to crack the top 10.

            “We have really come along very nicely this year, and we want to show people we are better than last year.”

            Leading the way for the Golden Eagles will be three runners who have finished 1-2-3 in four of Clarion’s five meets this season.

            David Duriancik, a junior who red-shirted last season, has been Clarion’s top runner all year finishing as the No. 1 Golden Eagle across the finish line in all five events including winning the IUP Invitational Sept. 20. Two years ago Duriancik finished 45^th at the PSAC meet.

            “David is doing very, very well,” Mooney said. “He is running a personal record almost every meet. His goal is to be all-conference, and I think his chances are good.”

            Right behind Duriancik have been two runners who have been solid all season including red-shirt freshman Sean Williams and senior A.J. Mayernik.

            The No. 2 man for the Golden Eagles three times, Williams’ best race came at Bucknell when he finished 28^th in a time of 26:35.

            “Sean is running well,” Mooney said. “He has been a pretty solid runner, and, as a freshman, he is gaining experience every meet. This will be his first conference meet, and we think he will do very well. He has been a very solid No. 2 and No. 3 man for us.”

            Mayernik has been Clarion’s No. 2 man twice and the Golden Eagles No. 3 three times. Last year he finished 51^st at PSAC’s after taking 41^st in 2001 as a sophomore.

            “A.J. is our captain, and he has shown good leadership up front for us,” Mooney said. “He runs very well in big meets, and he will run fine at the PSAC’s.”

            A fourth runner, freshman Ben Weaver, has shown signs of stability over the past couple of meets finishing as Clarion’s No. 3 runner at Duquesne and as the Golden Eagles No. 4 man at Bucknell. Weaver was a top-notch high school runner at nearby North Clarion, but sat out last year after joining the Army Reserves.

            “Ben was in the Army Reserves all the way up through August,” Mooney said. “We picked him up in late August early September, and he has worked very hard getting into running shape. He is gaining experience as we have gone along, and has been a pretty solid No. 3 or No. 4 man for us.

            “Overall, we believe we have four pretty good runners who can compete with anybody, and Ben is one of them”

            After the top four runners, Clarion is going to need a fifth runner to step up from a group that includes sophomore Matt Andreassi and freshmen Paul Mastarone, Jason South, Paul Schwab and Travis Cyphert. 

            “We need some help from that group of runners,” Mooney said. “We need one of them to move up and give us a good race.”

            GOLDEN EAGLE NOTES: Last season’s 3^rd-place PSAC finish for the women’s team bettered the previous school best of sixth in 1997 ... The Golden Eagles followed up the 3^rd-place PSAC finish with a 2^nd-place finish at the NCAA D-II Atlantic Regionals, also the best finish in school history ... That finish qualified Clarion for national meet for the first time in school history, and Clarion finished 20^th in the nation ... Both teams will be back in action next Saturday at the Atlantic Region meet at Lock Have ... Mooney believes the top four women’s four teams at the PSAC meet will be in no particular order Bloomsburg, Edinboro, IUP and Clarion while he believe the top four men’s teams will be Edinboro, Millersville, Lock Haven and Shippensburg.