Norwood Cross Country Looking Strong

Having inherited a team which is full of seniors, first-year Norwood Boys Cross Country Coach Matt Curran is looking at a season in the likes of which the Mustangs have not seen in sometime.
“I feel this is going to be a great season for the program, especially after the last two seasons in which the team was only able to win a few meets,” the new Coach said. “Having a senior laden team, I feel that we should be able to sneak out three wins in the Hergett [Division of the Bay State Conference], another two on the other side of the league [Carey Division] and maybe one or two outside the league.”
Although a first-year coach in terms of cross country, Curran is familiar with a number of the athletes from either the indoor or outdoor track team, knows that the Bay State Conference is not one in which to take lightly.
“For me personally as a first year [cross country] coach, it should be a little easier than coaching track," Curran said. "There’s only one race to worry about, although it is a little longer; in track we run around two miles, but cross country is 3.1 or 3.2 miles. The boys will prepare during the summer for the running, but I know that we’re in a brutally tough league where four or five of the teams could possibly be state finalists.”
When the season begins, Curran will have four seniors that should finish in the top five for the Mustangs each and every meet. He considers Craig Riley and Tarek Baki as the team’s 1A and 1B. Riley, the best two-miler for the track team, will provide leadership to the squad this fall, while Baki is making the move to cross country from soccer.
“Tarek knows that if he wants to run track in college he needs three seasons of running to take the next step,” Curran said. “He was one of our better short distance runners, but has put in the mileage and the transition to cross country should be no problem.”
Watching these two runners battle it out on the course to be the team’s number one runner should be fun to watch, according to the coach.
Two more seniors, Tom Condon and Jacob Logan, should be the Mustangs three and four finishers respectively. Condon had a solid spring track season, running more effectively as the season went on, while Logan, a hockey and lacrosse guy in the past, has put in his time this summer participating in numerous road races to get ready for the season.
The first underclassman to cross the finish the line on a regular basis should be sophomore Paul Forrest. The second-year runner comes from a good track pedigree (his older brother Pat was previously on the squad).
Other athletes who the Coach is looking to have an impact this fall will be senior Adam Islam and sophomores Mike Catalano, Kevin Sisk and Joe Barry.
“We have a decent sophomore class running for us this year and each of them should be able to slide into the seniors' role come next fall,” Curran said. “Entirely the team knows that they have to focus and if they can do that they’ll be ok. In past track divisional meets, these kids have made a difference and have had success. They understand the big picture.”
While the Mustangs may not be at the top of the Conference battling for the championship, they should have themselves a decent year with the seniors leading the way on the course.