coach's corner

Will Feldman returns for his fourth season at the helm of the Suffolk cross country and track & field programs.

He has brought the Rams to regional and national success in his short term at the helm including the men's top finish at the GNAC Championships in program history with a runner-up showing a year ago led by the first-ever GNAC Rookie of the Year in program history Matyas Csiki-Fejer.

Aiding Feldman as assistant coaches this season are Josh Brodin and Zeke Smith.

SCHEDULE SYNOPSIS

Six races across there months in addition to postseason appearances comprise Suffolk's 2019 cross country calendar.

• AUG. 31 | Early Bird Invitational | Keene, N.H.
• SEPT. 21 | UMass Dartmouth Invitational | Dartmouth, Mass.
• OCT. 5 | Keene State College | Keene, N.H.
• OCT. 19 | Battle for Boston Common | Boston, Mass.
• OCT. 19 | Suffolk Invite | Boston, Mass.
• NOV. 2 | GNAC Championships | Standish, Maine
• NOV. 16 | NCAA New England Regionals | Brunswick, Maine
• NOV. 23 | NCAA Championships | Louisville, Ky.

The UMass Dartmouth on September 21 will be our first real chance to see exactly what we have with 40-plus 40+ schools racing including Division I and II competition as well as the top teams in the GNAC.

SUFFOLK INVITE

We will be hosting our second annual Suffolk Invite on Saturday, Oct. This year we are expecting 40 schools to attend. It’s a major event for our program, and it serves as the final tune up before conference.

battle for boston common

For the second straight season, Suffolk will go head-to-head with its Beantown neighbor, Emerson. A year ago, the Rams took home the first-ever Battle for Boston Common by a hefty 14-40 margin.

GEOGRAPHY 101

Suffolk's men's cross country team has one of the most diverse make-ups across the Rams' 19-varsity sports with 21 athletes hailing from seven states and three countries.

The bulk of the roster is Bay State products with a dozen Massachusetts natives. California, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Missouri and Washington are each represented by one runner, respectively. Internationally, Rams have flown in from England, France and Kenya.

CLASS CATEGORIES

The Rams' 21-runner roster is not only the largest in program history, but it could also be the youngest with 90.4 percent of the makeup being underclassmen in nine true freshmen and 10 sophomores. With no seniors, the veteran leadership falls onto the lone junior, Nicholas Nunez. A graduate student, Erik Hill, rounds out the roster, but he too is new to Suffolk and will make his blue-and-gold debut in 2019.

rams ringleaders

For the first-time in the Will Feldman Suffolk men's cross country era, the head coach has tabbed a contingent to lead as captains in sophomores Matyas Csiki-Fejer, Nic Malm and Hunter Toyoda.

We will have an extremely young team this year and with 21 athletes it will be the largest men's cross country team in school history. The team only has one junior and no seniors, with that said, leadership falls to a group of three sophomores: Hunter, Matyas and Nic.

ROOKIE RAMS

Ten newcomers joined the Rams' ranks as newcomers for the 2019 season. The group, which is comprised of nine freshmen and one graduate student, hails from two states and three countries.

This is the deepest class I've had since being at Suffolk. The 10 incomers are joining a team that is coming off the best season in team history and ready to win a GNAC title. We were able to bring in several runners who we see being difference makers for us this year. I honestly think we have five freshmen who are all good enough to be our number two runner this year and be all-league.