The men’s cross country team on campus was able to race to the head of academics in their league this off-season. Due to their high academic performance, the team garnered the Atlantic East Conference Men’s Cross Country Team Academic Award with a collective 3.56 GPA for the team during this past fall semester.
“[Academic focus] is paramount,” José Rodriguez, cross country coach for the men’s and women’s teams, said. “Especially being in Division 3, the ‘student’ comes before the ‘athlete’ part. That’s something that both Brian Sugden, who’s the coach, and I really focus on is the importance of academics.”
Rodriguez talked about how, since a student in Division 3 is not usually trying to become a professional athlete, it is more of just an extracurricular activity. He sees this sort of extracurricular activity as “icing on the cake” when compared to the importance of academic performance. Rodriguez said that he and Sudgen stress the importance of academic excellence at every single practice.
Photo by Matthew Santangelo
Rodriguez said that although the coaching staff tries their best to encourage the students to keep on top of their schoolwork, it is ultimately up to the student to do their work on their own and to communicate with him and Sudgen if there are any issues. They are not there to babysit them, but instead to simply guide them on the right path.
The award was a surprise to Rodriguez and the rest of the team. He said that he was not aware that awards of this nature were given out by the Atlantic East Conference. He thought it was incredible that the conference was able to do that since it highlights the achievements of students and teams outside of the academic realm.
Chris Giacobbe, a junior who double majors in English and communication, is a member of the cross country team. He said that his coaches consistently tell him and his teammates to keep on top of their work. He said that, in many cases, the coaches will let an assignment take priority over a practice if need be.
Photo by Matthew Santangelo.
Giacobbe feels that the discipline that he has developed in his time doing cross country has really translated into his academics. He said that during the season the team is up and running together early every morning. That sort of routine and dedication has allowed him to be able to focus on schoolwork and perform well in it.
“I believe that a healthy body helps to have a healthy mind,” Michael Moraschi, a freshman business management major who is on the team, said. “Exercise is important to perform well in school.”
Moraschi told the story of how one time he had a lot of extra studying to do for class when he was supposed to have practice and his coach let him skip to get his work done. He reiterated the fact the academics take absolute precedence on their team. Moraschi closed by saying that he was extremely proud of his team for being able to perform so well in cross country while keeping on time of their grades. They seem to have struck the perfect balance.
