The St. John’s cross-country team opened their 2014 season on Sunday, September 7th as they hosted the SJU-Hofstra Fall XC Festival on the university’s Oakdale campus. The Red Storm managed to walk away with quite a few memorable performances. Freshman Izzi Batt-Doyle had a fantastic day in her collegiate debut, as the team showed immense promise heading into this year’s campaign.
“Izzi Batt-Doyle and Stephanie Van Pelt ran fearlessly from the beginning and look to be ready to have great seasons,” St. John’s head cross-country coach, Jim Hurt. “We had a typical opening meet with our efforts solid but with room for improvement.”
With a great sense of optimism moving forward, Hurt also noted his commendation to the veterans on the team stating, “Michelle Van Pelt and Chelsea Trant ran tough races for not being fully healthy and Veronica Thompson pressed hard throughout her race.” The Red Storm finished off by collecting a team score of 41 points overall, which ended up placing them second in the team competition.
As they look to take the next step, head coach Hurt vocalized the potential his team can put forth this year saying, “Melissa Hidalgo, Tiffany Evanego and Natasya Rodriques all showed they could help us as the year goes on. I was excited to see our Red Storm runners up front and believe we will be much improved the next time out.”
The St. John’s cross-country team will be back in action as they head to The University of Notre Dame to compete in the National Catholic Championship on Friday, September 19.
