Season Review: Cross Country

The memories of the 2019 season for the Chaminade University men's and women's cross country teams have both programs looking at making a lot of noise over the next few years.
 
And it proved to be widely successful year for head coach Shadrack Nabea, who completed his sixth year as the Silverswords' head coach for both programs.
 
On the women's side, the headliner was Alena Albertson (Austin, Texas/Cedar Park) who quickly established herself to be a force on the course.
 
The freshman had one of the top seasons by a Silversword runner, finishing as the team's top runner in all five races.
 
After earning Pacific West Conference Freshman of the Week honors following her first collegiate race, Albertson continued to make headlines with her third-place overall finish at the Chaminade Invitational followed by a second-place finish three weeks later marking the highest finish by a 'Sword in seven years. Her 25th-place overall finish in the Pacific West Conference Championships helped her qualify for the NCAA West Regional which was the first for the program since 2012.
 
Meanwhile fellow freshman Eri Leong (Las Vegas/SECTA) also had a standout rookie season with three third-place team finishes while junior Olivia Mariucci (Templeton, Calif./Templeton) provided veteran leadership and posted strong numbers as the 'Swords' No. 2 runner. The team also got contributions from Riley Hallman (Renner, S.D./Tri-Valley), Montserrat Lanfranco (Honolulu/Roosevelt) and Alicia Dugan (Renton, Wash./Peninsula College/Kentridge HS).
 
The 'Swords, as a team, also made great strides through the season. Their ninth-place overall finish in the PacWest Championship was their highest since 2012 when they also finished ninth.
 
On the men's side, another freshman came in and provided an immediate impact. Peyton Oshiro (Honolulu/Hawai'i Baptist Academy) established himself as the 'Swords' top runner this season with first-place team finishes in his first four races. Junior Beau Larsen (Papillion, Neb./Daniel J. Gross Catholic), who had nine top finishes through the first 10 races of his career, battled with inconsistency for most of the season but still enjoyed three No. 2 placements with a No. 1 finish at the PacWest Championship.
 
Elijah Bernardo-Flores (Waipahu, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Kamehameha-Kapalama) continued to show vast improvement with a pair of No. 2 finishes in his second year on the team. Matthew Schmidt (Hanalei, Kaua'i, Hawai'i/Hawai'i Technology Academy) and Joseph Yoakum (Gilbraltar, Mich./Wayne State/Carlson HS) both provided much-needed senior leadership to the core of underclassmen.
 
Josiah Rodrigues (Honoka'a, Hawai'i/Honoka'a) and Rocco Deangelo (Mebane, S.C./Southern Alamance) gained valuable experience as freshmen and are expected to improve over the next three years.
 
Despite losing Dugan, Schmidt and Yoakum to graduation, the cores of both squads are back for the start of the new decade and looking to elevate the teams even higher.