The ETSU cross-country teams are ready to capitalize on last year’s momentum, starting this weekend at the Early Bird Classic in Buies Creek, N.C.
The men’s roster includes all eight members of the 2002 squad and also two newcomers. Experience and leadership will come from a trio of talented upperclassmen: senior David Haefner of Hamburg, N.Y., junior Bradley Yewer of Newbury, England, and sophomore James Grufferty of Glanmire, Ireland. At last year’s SoCon Championships, all three finished in the top 10 and earned all-conference honors.
“I fully expect the Buccaneers to return to winning ways and improve upon last year’s fourth-place finish,” said coach David E. Walker.
“ETSU has a strong tradition and there is a sense of responsibility and pride that this year’s team will need to embrace in order to contend for a championship.”
Returnees Peter Dalton, of Dublin, Ireland, and Warwick, England’s Paul Dable will round out the men’s squad and add depth to an already-talented team. Additions to the team are Greg Kenny of Leixilip, Co. Kidare, Ireland, Joshua Hicks of Riceville, Tenn., Clark Tucker of Cleveland, Tenn., Joshua Gibson of Limesone, Tenn., and Derrick Payne of Springfield, Tenn.
“Dalton will look to improve upon his solid accomplishments to further push the Buccaneers toward a championship,” said Walker.
“Dable will look to step up and provide the much-needed depth. It all comes down to everyone catching up with [Haefner, Bradley, and Grufferty] and running the race.
“It is my hope that this fine group of talented young men will embrace the challenge ahead of them and return ETSU to its long-standing tradition of excellence at the conference level,” said Walker.
The women’s team is also in good shape as they prepare for the beginning of the season, coach Michelle Byrne said.
The ladies have six runners returning from last season and have found two new runners to add depth.
Emily Chaney of Maryville, Tenn., will lead the Lady Buccaneers this season along with Katie Marshall of Metuchen, N.J. Other returning team members include Kim Simmons of Knoxville, Tenn., Tiffany Collier of Atlanta, Ga., Jennifer Habbestad of Tampa, Fla., and Christine Ward of Candler, N.C.
“Our returning team members know what is expected from them. I hope the learning experience from last year coupled with a good summer of training will prepare them well to improve our finish from a year ago,” said Byrne.
“We’re hoping to continue moving up the ranks. We’re a little more mature, a little bit stronger in our training and hopefully we have the experience a lot of them gained last year, we had a lot of freshmen step up towards the end of the season,” she said.
In the off-season, the women also added two new additions to the team: Nicole Brunson of Richlands, Va., and Caitlin St. Louis of Kingsport, Tenn. Byrne said she has high expectations for the new additions.
This week, Brunson will run in her first event as a Lady Buc and she seems to have trained hard over the summer.
“They have all worked hard over the summer and have done the kind of milage they needed to to race well this season,” said Byrne. “Emily is our senior, so we will be looking to her for leadership. Katie was our highest placed finisher last year as a freshman, and she is looking to build upon last year. ”
Another impact athlete for the ladies cross country team is Kim Simmons. “We are hoping she [Simmons] can get off to a quicker start this fall,” said Byrne.
“I feel very confident that she will be an impact athlete for us in cross country after her strong performance in the second half of the season.”
“We need a complete team effort to have a success this year,” said Byrne. “Our success is not based on any one individual, our success will come from our individuals running collectively as a unit. It is important that we prepare well in order to compete at the highest level.”
The Bucs cross country men have be ranked fourth in the preseason polls with a first place tie between Appalachian State and University of Chattanooga and Western Carolina in third.
The ladies are in sixth and hope to improve by the end of the season. Both teams will run this week in the Campbell Early Bird Classic. The men’s 5k will start at 9 a.m. and the women’s 4k at 10 a.m.
Both coaches said they are looking forward the races to get a better idea of where their talent stands.

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