The Chestnut Hill College women's and men's cross country team will compete for the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Championships Sunday morning at historic Belmont Plateau in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The women's race starts at 9:00 a.m. with the men following at 10:00 a.m.   The race will be shown on the CACC Network with coverage beginning at 8:45 a.m.  http://caccnetwork.com

Both teams are looking to improve upon their performance at 2019 championships which was the championship contested due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  In 2019 the men's team finished sixth while the women's team had only one individual compete.

The 2021 edition of the Chestnut Hill cross country program is an all freshman group with five men and  women set to compete on Sunday.

The Chestnut Hill women have recorded top ten finishes in four of their five regular season meets , most recently a seventh place effort at the Jack St. Clair  Invitational, one of three Belmont Plateau races that the Griffins competed at this season.  The men's team also placed seventh at the Jack St. Clair race and recorded a third place finish at the Philadelphia Metro Championship where the competition included seven school who will also be competing at this year's conference championships.

Coach Maria Stickley's women's squad has been led all season by a duo of freshman, Syd Watts and Corinne Lee-Hauser.  The two have run 21:53 and 22:46 at the 5K distance at Belmont respectively. Picking up the next two spots during the season have been Angela James-Creech and Aubrey Elias.  Elias was the Griffins #3 runner three times in five meets, including the Metro, while James-Creech most recently was the third Griffin to cross the line at the Jack St. Clair race at Belmont.

New to the mix will be Marcela Banuelos who comes over to the team from the Griffin's women's soccer team.  She is expected to provide additional depth to the young CHC squad.

"The women have really come along towards the back half of this season., " adds Stickley   "With an all freshman team it takes a while to really adapt to the training and start to find their stride. They finally feel like they are at that point to really put something together and finish in the top 3 team this weekend. Sydney Watts, Corrine Lee-Hauser, Angela James-Creech, and Aubrey Elias have been a really solid 4 that have steadily improved as a unit.  We are now adding Marcela Banuelos into the mix and I believe she could be a big factor in team scores. They are looking forward, as well as the coaching staff, to racing this weekend!" 

On the men's side, the Griffins no longer have Ziggy Fisher, the 2019  CACC Individual champion who graduated in 2020.  Chestnut Hill's top three runners are led by Chris Nelson.  Nelson was the Griffins' top finisher in the team's final four races and is primed to produce an all-conference worthy performance on Sunday. Nelson has run 29:38 at Belmont earlier this season.

Jason Fisher and Cole Stanchina could also step up and turn in all-conference performances, having competed on the Belmont course three times.  Stanchina has turned in a Belmont best time of 30:05 while Fisher also produced a sub-31 minute performance at 30:34 at the Plateau this season.

Damir Kee and  Matthew Velez will round out the freshman five for the Griffins.  Kee and Velez have both run under 33 minutes at Belmont and if the two can produce anything close to what they have done previously a top three finish is definitely a possibility. 

"With only 5 guys this season, the men have proven that numbers does not mean strength. We have had that "under-dog" mentality all season and it really paid off,  said Stickley.  "Going into the CACC Championships, the guys are confident and trust each other to get the job done on Sunday. Cole Stanchina, Jason Fisher, and Chris Nelson have been looking strong all season and are running for a 1st or 2nd team All-Conference finish, which with their talent is very doable. I am proud of this group of guys this season, and I cannot wait to see what they bring this Sunday to the CACC."