LEOMINSTER — The Fitchburg State University men’s cross country team has high expectations this season, and in their lone home meet of the fall, the Falcons started the process of reaching their goals.
The Fitchburg State men finished in fourth place, with 94 points, in a nine-team field at Saturday’s Jim Sheehan Memorial Alumni Cross Country Meet at the Doyle Conservation Area.
The two-time defending-MASCAC-champion Falcons did have one setback on the day, as conference foe Bridgewater State University, a team with two local athletes, finished ahead of them in the team rankings in second place (77 points). UMass Dartmouth won the meet with 42 points.
Fitchburg State University Cross Country teams held the Jim Sheehan Memorial Invitational at the Doyle Conservation Area in Leominster on Saturday, September 7, 2019. FSU's Jacob Movsessian (#200) at the start of the men's race. SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE/JOHN LOVE
Fitchburg State University Cross Country teams held the Jim Sheehan Memorial Invitational at the Doyle Conservation Area in Leominster on Saturday, September 7, 2019. Start of the men's race. SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE/JOHN LOVE
Fitchburg State University Cross Country teams held the Jim Sheehan Memorial Invitational at the Doyle Conservation Area in Leominster on Saturday, September 7, 2019. FSU's Cameron Sousa (#205) at the start of the race. Just behind him is is FSU's Ryan Carter (#189). SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE/JOHN LOVE
Fitchburg State University Cross Country teams held the Jim Sheehan Memorial Invitational at the Doyle Conservation Area in Leominster on Saturday, September 7, 2019. FSU's Jacob Movsessian (#200). SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE/JOHN LOVE
Fitchburg State University Cross Country teams held the Jim Sheehan Memorial Invitational at the Doyle Conservation Area in Leominster on Saturday, September 7, 2019. FSU's Jacob Movsessian (#200). SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE/JOHN LOVE
Fitchburg State University Cross Country teams held the Jim Sheehan Memorial Invitational at the Doyle Conservation Area in Leominster on Saturday, September 7, 2019. FSU's Tim Sheehy (#204). Just behind him is FSU's Samuel Flint (#195). SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE/JOHN LOVE
Fitchburg State University Cross Country teams held the Jim Sheehan Memorial Invitational at the Doyle Conservation Area in Leominster on Saturday, September 7, 2019. FSU's Samuel Flint (#195). SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE/JOHN LOVE
Fitchburg State University Cross Country teams held the Jim Sheehan Memorial Invitational at the Doyle Conservation Area in Leominster on Saturday, September 7, 2019. FSU's Joe Weston (#206). SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE/JOHN LOVE
Fitchburg State University Cross Country teams held the Jim Sheehan Memorial Invitational at the Doyle Conservation Area in Leominster on Saturday, September 7, 2019. FSU's Joe Weston (#206). SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE/JOHN LOVE
Fitchburg State University Cross Country teams held the Jim Sheehan Memorial Invitational at the Doyle Conservation Area in Leominster on Saturday, September 7, 2019. FSU's Matt Catarius (#190). SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE/JOHN LOVE
Fitchburg State cross country runner Tim Sheehy is one of the top distance runners for the Falcons outdoor track team. SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE/JOHN LOVE
Fitchburg State University Cross Country teams held the Jim Sheehan Memorial Invitational at the Doyle Conservation Area in Leominster on Saturday, September 7, 2019. FSU's Tim Sheehy (#204). SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE/JOHN LOVE
Fitchburg State University Cross Country teams held the Jim Sheehan Memorial Invitational at the Doyle Conservation Area in Leominster on Saturday, September 7, 2019. FSU's Jacob Movsessian (#200). SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE/JOHN LOVE
Fitchburg State University Cross Country teams held the Jim Sheehan Memorial Invitational at the Doyle Conservation Area in Leominster on Saturday, September 7, 2019. FSU's Cameron Sousa (#205). SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE/JOHN LOVE
Fitchburg State University Cross Country teams held the Jim Sheehan Memorial Invitational at the Doyle Conservation Area in Leominster on Saturday, September 7, 2019. FSU's Nick Sachetta (#203). Just behind him is FSU's Cameron Davis (#192). SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE/JOHN LOVE
Fitchburg State University Cross Country teams held the Jim Sheehan Memorial Invitational at the Doyle Conservation Area in Leominster on Saturday, September 7, 2019. FSU's Conor Dandy (#191). SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE/JOHN LOVE
Fitchburg State University Cross Country teams held the Jim Sheehan Memorial Invitational at the Doyle Conservation Area in Leominster on Saturday, September 7, 2019. FSU's Joe Weston (#206). SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE/JOHN LOVE
Fitchburg State University Cross Country teams held the Jim Sheehan Memorial Invitational at the Doyle Conservation Area in Leominster on Saturday, September 7, 2019. FSU's Joe Weston (#206). SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE/JOHN LOVE
Fitchburg State University Cross Country teams held the Jim Sheehan Memorial Invitational at the Doyle Conservation Area in Leominster on Saturday, September 7, 2019. FSU's Cameron Davis (#192). SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE/JOHN LOVE
Fitchburg State University Cross Country teams held the Jim Sheehan Memorial Invitational at the Doyle Conservation Area in Leominster on Saturday, September 7, 2019. FSU's Conor Dandy(#191). SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE/JOHN LOVE
Fitchburg State University Cross Country teams held the Jim Sheehan Memorial Invitational at the Doyle Conservation Area in Leominster on Saturday, September 7, 2019. FSU's Tim Sheehy (#204). SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE/JOHN LOVE
Fitchburg State University Cross Country teams held the Jim Sheehan Memorial Invitational at the Doyle Conservation Area in Leominster on Saturday, September 7, 2019. FSU's Tim Sheehy (#204). SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE/JOHN LOVE
Fitchburg State University Cross Country teams held the Jim Sheehan Memorial Invitational at the Doyle Conservation Area in Leominster on Saturday, September 7, 2019. FSU's Jacob Movsessian (#200). SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE/JOHN LOVE
Fitchburg State University Cross Country teams held the Jim Sheehan Memorial Invitational at the Doyle Conservation Area in Leominster on Saturday, September 7, 2019. FSU's Tim Sheehy (#204). SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE/JOHN LOVE
The final results are not cause for concern for FSU head coach Jim Jellison, as the same thing happened last year, and the Falcons still won the conference championship.
“We ran without one of our top freshmen, and for the freshmen it was their first ever 5-mile cross country race, against a bunch of strong teams,” Jellison said. “It was a good start, and this is a tough course to have your first 5-mile race on. Everyone ran well, and I have no complaints with how anyone ran today.”
Fitchburg State had two runners finish back-to-back in the top 10, both of whom are juniors, and both set strong starts to their season after success last week at Keene State College’s meet.
Jake Movsessian took home eighth place for the Falcons, finishing the grueling 8K course in 26 minutes, 54 seconds. Movsessian was recovering from an illness but still put forth a similar performance to last year.
“It was a pretty similar result to what I got last year,” Movsessian said. “It’s a tough course. At the beginning of the season, you can’t expect too much. I’m just getting over a cold, too. Compared to last year at this point we’re looking a lot better. We have a tight top five, which is going to help us at MASCACs.”
Tim Sheehy came following right behind, as he took home ninth with a time of 27:12. Sheehy says the preparation leading up to the meet led to the great results.
“I had a good race and we had a really hard workout on Wednesday, six-by-one-mile repeats,” Sheehy said. “That gave me a lot of confidence today, it was a really good workout. My legs felt good, my heart felt good, and my mind felt good.”
Freshman Sam Flint was the next Falcon to cross the line as he took 16th place in 27:37. Flint used the strategy of working with a teammate, which paid dividends in the end.
“I tried to hang with (Sheehy) the whole way and keep grinding,” Flint said. “The 8K is a lot harder than a 5K, and the key is to not go out too hard. We were together through the first three miles and then he started taking off up the hills.”
Matt Catarius (27th, 28:30) and Joe Weston (42nd, 29:19) rounded out the scorers in the top five for Fitchburg State. Trevor Fields (43rd, 29:24) and Nick Sachetta (54th, 30:00) served as displacers.
Bridgewater State was paced by second-place performer Trevor Wysong, and right behind him in the Bears rankings were two local athletes. Leominster High alumnus Mike Hutchinson finished 15th with a time of 27:37, good enough to be the second-best Bridgewater runner.
“I had a down year for me last year,” Hutchinson said. “This whole summer I’ve been working my tail off to get back in shape. I took off pretty fast today, the first hill got me, but as the race went on, it smoothed out, and I finished strong in the end.”
Bears teammate, former rival, and Fitchburg High alumnus Josh Higgins took home 19th in 28:02, next in line for his team. Higgins put in extensive work in the offseason in preparation for his senior year.
“I put in a lot of road work this summer,” Higgins said. “I went 55 miles the last week of August, then I tapered down a little bit and got some good workouts in from coach, working how to shift gears in races. I thought I’d sell out the first meet to see where my fitness is with two to go, and I closed well, but need to work on sticking on people.”