Young cross country squad set to compete

Riis Valcho

The Mesa Community College cross country team is looking to start on the right track and compete in Region I with a core group of freshmen runners for the start of the 2008 season.This year’s group of 16 total runners is comprised of a younger freshmen class with only a handful of sophomores returning to the team from a successful 2007 cross country season where the Men’s team placed 11th out of 40 teams competing at NJCAA nationals, and the Women’s finishing 12th out of 34 teams.

Anchored by men’s captain Josh Burton and women’s captain Samantha Meyerhoff, and rounded off by Arizona state high school cross country champion, Matthew Swift-Kraemer the young Thunderbird’s will need to take on a strong leadership roll early on in the eight meet season.

Returning for his second season at MCC, Coach Eamonn Condon needs the team to overcome the lack of collegiate level experience this season.

“I am looking for people to step up to the challenge,” Condon said.

Young cross country teams are great for preparing for seasons ahead, however, immediate results in terms of winning now will be tough for the young MCC runners.

Although Condon is aware of his team’s youthful short comings, he is also fully aware and confident of his team’s potential.

The team will be, according to Coach Condon, “competitive this year”.

Not only can the Thunderbirds begin to make their own mark this season in the local NJCAA Region I, but also at the NJCAA Nationals, held this November in Spartansburg, South Carolina.

MCC’s toughest competitor in the Regional meets is Central Arizona College, in Florence.

Central Arizona normally has a more competitive edge than the rest of the teams in the Region due to the school’s ability to recruit outside of the United States from strong, runner-rich nations such as Kenya.

Nevertheless, Coach Condon is not one to back down from a challenge.

“Cross country is really a shared experience. It is truly a team sport; same pain, same obstacles,” Coach Condon said. “It doesn’t mean that we can’t compete. We will be very competitive.”

Eamonn Condon has run around quite a bit himself.

A native of Ireland, he ran in his country’s club systems which are comparable to the top colligate running programs in America.

From his home country, he and his wife moved to Ontario, Canada where Condon ran for Western Ontario University, where he graduated with a M.B.A.

He and his family of three sons found their way to Arizona.

Entering his twelfth year in the Valley, Condon says he loves it here and this is his home now.

  • Mesa Legend Staff

    These are archived stories from Mesa Legend editions before Fall 2018. See article for corresponding author.

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