The men’s cross country team has made steady improvements during the course of the season, most recently in a first-place finish over 40 other teams last Saturday at the Paul Short Run at Lehigh University. The Bombers had an easy win, finishing 41 points ahead of all other schools, including four Division I schools and nine Division II schools.

“It was just an awesome feeling,” senior captain Drew Hodge said. “It was a very big meet with many teams, and not only did everyone see what we can do, but we were able to check out the other teams and see what they are capable of doing.”

The Bombers’ improvement has been evident all year. They have finished no lower than fourth place in all of their meets including three first-place finishes at SUNY-Oswego, Misericordia University and Lehigh.

“Everyone had their fastest times of the year, and there were even seven [personal records],” sophomore Anthony Palma said. “The [junior varsity] guys ran well too. They raced before us, and seeing them finish well just pumped us up.”

Since the team has been improving its performance at every meet, talk of taking the Empire 8 title has begun to surface.

“As far as the title, we will have to beat [Rochester Institute of Technology], [Alfred University] and University of Rochester,” Hodge said. “We have been running well, we have really hit strides, but at the same time, we have reached a peak. This is about the time injuries start to occur, but for now, we have only had good fortune,” Hodge said.

While the team has seen nothing but success on the trails during meets, practice has been a bit more unlucky for the runners.     

“This season is the worst in history for bee stings and poison ivy,” junior Brian Riley said.

Riley said the bad luck struck again when he broke his arm.

“I guess I just tripped and slammed into the ground – not exactly my brightest moment,” he said.

The South Hill squad will look to continue its success Saturday at the Hamilton College Invitational in Clinton, N.Y.

“Hamilton is the course where we run the state meet,” junior Nate Lavieri-Scull said. “If we continue the success from this weekend, we should be in a good position.”

Though the Hamilton course has been a challenge for the Bombers in the past, Hodge said he is confident in his team’s ability to continue its season-long trend of success.

“Hamilton is not traditionally a fast course, and it always rains there, which means it is always muddy,” he said. “But we will run well there for sure. It just won’t be as fun as the other courses. Hamilton is relatively flat which helps because we constantly train on hills.”

With an impressive win at Lehigh and a second-place finish at the Highlander Invitational at Houghton College, the entire team is at the peak of its preparation.

“Houghton was an easy meet for us, even though Houghton ran some of their better runners,” Lavieri-Scull said. “We didn’t run our top 12, and it was great to see [our team] do so well against teams that had all of their top runners.”

With momentum at its back, the team will try and storm into Hamilton and continue the success they have seen this season. The experience the runners have had on this course should help them finish toward the top of the standings. Because the course is the site of the state championships, a strong performance at Hamilton could be a sign of things to come for the Bombers.