BOSTON – Suffolk women's cross country gets its 2024 campaign underway Saturday, Aug. 31 at the 10th Annual Wheaton & Babson Season Opener at the Mark Coogan Cross Country Course at Highland Park in Attleboro, Massachusetts. The women's 3,000-meter run wraps up the day at 10:45 a.m. with the men's 5,000-meter race getting things started at 10:00 a.m.
FOLLOW ALONG
Don't miss any of the action from the first race of the 2024 season as both races will be streamed live with results provided as well.
SOCIALIZE
Ram Nation has a chance to keep up with all the latest news and notes on Suffolk Athletics, its student-athletes and teams by following the Rams on Facebook, Instagram and X. Fans are encouraged to use the hashtag #RamNation a behind-the-scene look at Suffolk Athletics.
RAPID REWIND
For the third consecutive campaign, Suffolk women's cross country hoisted the conference championship. Following the threepeat, the Rams raced to a program-best sixth at regionals.
Individually, five Suffolk student-athletes picked up all-conference honors in Ellie Davis, Sarah Roberts, Sydney Fogg, Amy Pattelena and Emily Concepcion. The five all-league honors tied for second in the Rams recod book for the most all-conference distinctions in a single season sitting behind the 2022 squad's six selections.
Regionally, Davis and Pattelena scooped up All-East for their top-35 finishes at regionals.
RAMS RINGLEADERS
Sydney Fogg has returned to Suffolk women's cross country roster as a graduate student and will resume her post as the Rams captain.
MORE READING: Fogg Named 2024 Women's Cross Country Captain
RAMS ROOKIES
Three-time conference champion Suffolk women's cross country added more depth in the offseason as head coach Will Feldman brought in eight recruits to help push the blue-and-gold to a league fourpeat.
The group features six true freshmen – Evangeline Alexander, Gina Cappello, Megan Dunn, Taylor Farrell, Katarina Ferreira and Allison Martin – and transfers sophomore Sofia Moukaddem and grad student Amalia Dorion.
MORE READING: Eight Join Women's Cross Country for 2024
GEOGRAPHY 101
The 17 Rams hail from eight different U.S. states. Massachusetts has the most natives with eight. Two student-athletes brought their talents to Beantown from New Hampshire and New York, respectively, while California, Indiana, Iowa, Maine and Texas are represented by one Ram apiece.
CLASS CATEGORIES
Suffolk's 17-runner roster is underclassmen heavy with six true freshman and five sophomores. The six upperclassmen are evenly split with a pair of juniors, seniors and graduate students.
COACH'S CORNER
Will Feldman returns for his eighth 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. His cross country highlights feature back-to-back CCC Women's Cross Country Championships and the University's first USTFCCCA All-American in cross country, Matyas Csiki-Fejer, who raced to the feat in 2021.
To aid Feldman on a full-time basis, the program added Associate Head Coach Kerstin Darsney over the off season.
Josh Brodin is back on Feldman's staff for his seventh season as an assistant coach, while former Rams runners Cole Bolduc, Justin Turner and Sarah Roberts came back to the team in a coaching position this season.
THE FIELD
The field features representatives from NCAA Division I in Holy Cross and Stone Hill and numerous NCAA Division III counterparts in Babson, Brandeis, Bridgewater State, UMass Dartmouth, Wheaton and Suffolk's Conference of New England foe Wentworth.
THE DISTANCE
Things will be kept short and sweet in the season debut. The women will run 3,000 meters, while the men will compete a 5,000 meter.
TO BE THE BEST YOU HAVE TO BEAT THE BEST
Suffolk, who sits fourth in the preseason USTFCCCA Division III East Regional Preseason Rankings, is the highest regional team set to compete on Saturday, however, Brandeis is featured in the region's top 10 as well in eighth.
COACH'S QUOTE
"We're excited to get the season started and test our fitness coming off of summer training," head coach Will Feldman said. "The goal for the women is to be the top DIII team. Brandeis should make it very competitive, especially with us resting two of our top five runners."
RAMS TO WATCH
- Amalia Dorion and Sofia Moukaddem will make their Suffolk debuts and both could place in the top 10 individually.
- Senior Sydney Fogg is in the best shape of her collegiate career and will be vying for a spot in the top 10 as well.
- Rookies Taylor Farrell, Katarina Ferreira, Gina Cappello, Evangeline Alexander and Megan Dunn will make their collegiate debuts.
REGIONAL RANK
Suffolk women's cross country has already rewritten the Rams record books days away from the first race of the 2024 as the blue-and-gold landed fourth in the East Region in the Preseason U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Rankings.
MORE READING: Women's Cross Country Earns Highest East USTFCCCA Ranking at Fourth
SUFFOLK'S SCHEDULE
The Rams are idle until Saturday, Sept. 21 when they compete at Cardinal Invitational at The Wes Furhman '05 Trails Cross Country course in Middletown, Connecticut.
