Men’s and women’s cross country teams look to win Big South
By Collin Guiliani
High Point’s cross country teams have posted continued success over the years, with the men’s team winning the Big South Championship four times since 2004, and the women’s team winning the Big South Championship three times since 2011. However, last season, the Panthers came up empty-handed, with the men’s team finishing fourth in the Big South and posting their worst finish in the standings since their fifth place finish in 2000, and the women’s team finishing second in the Big South to Liberty, unable to defend their two-year title run. This year, with new faces on both teams, the Panthers will be looking to get back on top.
The men’s cross country team is led by head coach Mike Esposito, who won Big South Coach of the Year honors in 2014. Of the seven runners on High Point’s roster this season, four of them are freshmen, and for the first time in at least a decade, there are no seniors on the men’s team. Only two people on the roster this season, Alejandro Juan Torres and Patrick Van Der Cruyssen, are upperclassmen. After losing Vinny Todaro, who made the Big South All-Conference Team in each of his final two seasons with the Panthers, High Point will be looking for someone to step up this year. One option is Torres, as the junior already has Big South experience. In 2015, as a freshman, Torres made the Big South All-Conference Team, becoming just the third High Point true freshman in the 2010s to accomplish this.
Remy Tamer enters his second season as the head coach of the women’s cross country team, after guiding the Panthers to a second-place finish at the Big South Championships last season. Much like Esposito, Tamer coaches a team without any seniors for the first time in at least a decade. Of the 14 runners on High Point’s roster this season, eight of them are freshmen. While High Point lost two seniors from last year’s team who made it onto the Big South All-Conference Team, including Natalia Ocasio, who is one of three players in school history to make an all-conference team at least three times, they bring back junior runner Keaton Case, who made the all-conference team last season, and sophomore Kylie Hennessey, who finished inside the top 20 in last year’s Big South Championships.
The men’s team began their season on September 2 at the Phoenix Invite in Elon, North Carolina. They will participate in three additional events before the Big South Championships on October 28 in Lynchburg, Virginia, including the HPU VertCross Invitational in Kernersville, North Carolina on October 13. Likewise, the women’s team began their season on September 2 at the Phoenix Invite, and will participate in three additional events, including the HPU VertCross Invitational, before the Big South Championships on October 28.
On the men’s side, High Point is picked to finish third in the Big South according to the preseason poll, behind preseason favorite Campbell and Liberty. This marks the 11th straight year that High Point is picked to finish in the top three of the preseason poll, as since 2002, High Point has never finished lower than fourth in the preseason poll. Campbell enters the season as the preseason favorite after winning the conference for the second straight year.
On the women’s side, High Point is picked to finish second in the Big South according to the preseason poll, only behind preseason favorite Liberty. Last season, Liberty won the Big South for the ninth time in school history and for the first time since 2012, stopping a two-year winning streak by High Point. This marks the sixth straight year that High Point has been placed in the top three of the preseason poll, as the Panthers have not been placed outside the top four of the preseason poll since 2003.
