By Emma Deo
The Plattsburgh State cross country team had high expectations heading into this season, with the men’s team returning six of their top seven runners from the 2023 SUNYAC Championship. With a young team and a few injuries, Plattsburgh is experiencing a slow start to the season.
Considering the altered landscape of the SUNYAC, the Plattsburgh State Cardinals cross country teams are still looking to make their mark on the postseason.
Geneseo and Brockport’s departures from the conference drastically changed the playing field, as Geneseo was a SUNYAC cross country powerhouse. Since 2011, Geneseo has amassed a staggering 23 SUNYAC titles between their men’s and women’s programs. This season, Cortland and Oneonta will prove to be Plattsburgh’s biggest competition.
“I think we’re doing a good job right now of trying to maintain a positive outlook on what we wanted to achieve this season and how we are going to get ourselves there instead of letting short-term setbacks dictate how we look at the goals that we’ve set previously,” said Michael Brockway, graduate student men’s cross country runner.
The Cardinals are facing injuries in two of their top runners, Noah Bonesteel and Marissa Colvin. Bonesteel, a senior, was a SUNYAC Elite 20 award winner in 2022 and 2023 and finished 22nd at the 2023 SUNYAC Championships. Colvin was the lone Cardinal to earn All-SUNYAC honors in 2023, following her 13th place finish at the SUNYAC Championships.
“It was devastating for them individually, but it’s just about who’s going to step up,” head coach Jordyn Naylon said.
Sophomore women’s runner Grace Estus said that these injuries can be a struggle for the women’s team but overall they have a great team dynamic and that is brought to light when it comes time for competition.
“We just want to continue to support each other, work hard and keep a positive mindset as we look to secure a top three spot at SUNYACs,” Estus wrote in a text message.
Plattsburgh competed in the RPI Harvest Classic on Sept. 27, placing fifth out of five teams. RPI, Williams College, and two Division I programs—the University at Albany and the University of Vermont—also competed. Sophomore Graham Richard — who was named SUNYAC Runner of the Week on Sept 23 — was the first Cardinal men’s runner to cross the finish line with a time of 27:08.8, placing 19th overall. Brockway and first-year runner Sam Faga were the next two Cardinals to finish, placing 22nd and 27th respectively.
For the women’s team, senior Sarah Smith – who was also named SUNYAC Runner of the Week on Sept 23 – led the way for Plattsburgh State, placing 23rd overall. Estus placed 28th and first-year Ella Stuttard followed closely behind in 31st. This was a new personal record for all three women’s runners.
The Cardinals will head to the Connecticut College Invitational on Oct 19.
“We practice early in the morning, which is really tough and it’s a big ask, but they do a really good job of showing up and getting it done. That’s been really awesome,” Naylon said.
The Cardinals have a young roster this season, allowing their runners little time to adjust to first-year life. The men’s team has eight underclassmen, three of them being first-years. Faga, Brody Olden and Ayden Wefer have all competed for the Cardinals, beginning in the 42nd Annual Cardinal Classic on Aug. 31, just one week after arriving on campus. The same goes for the women’s team, with all four of their first-year runners – Isabelle Cunningham, Jillian Head, Lexie Rostak and Stuttard – competing in the Cardinal Classic.
“I think an issue that plagues a lot of first-year collegiate athletes, especially in cross country, is adjusting to the school-life balance and the workload that the sport puts on the individual,” Brockway said.
Faga expressed how it can be difficult to adjust to waking up for practice in the morning and heading straight to class, as well as having meets on the weekends, but overall, he is persevering and adapting well to the collegiate lifestyle.
Going forward, the team needs to keep a tough mindset while enduring setbacks due to its injuries.
“As a team we want to work toward pushing harder in races and just believing that the work that we put in is going to pay off,” Brockway said. “As opposed to staying conservative and being afraid of that pain, because we’ve trained to fight through that pain.”
