A Look Back, Moving Forward: Cross Country

With the rapidly approaching start of the 2021-22 academic year, GoSwords.com will look back at the events of the unusual spring 2021 year in which all 10 Chaminade University athletic teams were in competition due to the COVID-19 pandemic. "A Look Back, Moving Forward" series will feature all 10 programs over the next nine days, recapping the spring and a look ahead to what the '21-22 term has in store.

First of a nine-part series.
 
A Look Back:
Of all 10 Chaminade University sports, perhaps none went through many trials and tribulations like the men's and women's cross country teams. First, their traditional fall racing season was postponed due to the pandemic, followed by the NCAA canceling all fall championships.
 
Several runners then opted out of competition in the spring, leaving the Silverswords with just individual scoring instead of the standard five-person team scoring format.
 
Seniors Riley Hallman (Renner, S.D./Tri-Valley) and Olivia Mariucci (Templeton, Calif./Templeton) were the lone runners on the women's team, with Mariucci coming within 4 seconds of a runner-up finish at the Nov. 12 Hawai'i Hilo Invitational.
 
Meanwhile, senior Elijah Bernardo-Flores (Waipahu, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Kamehameha-Kapalama), Owen Daugherty (Cedar Park, Texas/Cedar Park) and Conor McMahon (Pacifica, Calif./Archbishop Riordan) represented the men's squad.
 
There were lots of successes with Daugherty, a freshman, having top-five finishes in all three spring competitions. Bernardo-Flores finished in the top-10 in all three and capped his year with the PacWest Men's Cross Country Scholar-Athlete of the Year, a first for a Silversword runner.
 
Moving Forward:
With all of Hawai'i's Division II teams competing in the spring while a majority of the PacWest mainland teams canceled their seasons entirely, Chaminade, Hawai'i Pacific University and the University of Hawai'i Hilo essentially have a head start against the rest of the conference for the upcoming fall season. A second factor will be home course advantage: the PacWest Cross Country Championships will be held at the Kahuku Golf Course on O'ahu's North Shore.
 
Both the 'Swords men's and women's teams are trending heavy towards underclassmen carrying their squads. However Bernardo-Flores has one year of athletic eligibility remaining and will be returning in the fall to attend graduate school.
 
The 'Swords, led by eighth-year head coach Shadrack Nabea, will get their season underway at the University of Hawai'i Manoa's Big Wave Invitational on Sept. 4. CUH, UH Hilo and HPU will host their own races followed by the conference championships on Oct. 23.

Tomorrow (Aug. 11): Men's soccer