In the warm sunlight of a nice fall Saturday, the Muhlenberg men’s and women’s cross country teams competed fiercely in their second meet of the season at Stockton University. This is an important meet for the Mules as they will be racing the same course for regionals in November. Under the leadership of their new coach, the men’s team fought hard to secure 10th place and the women’s team secured 13th place.
The Mules also showed individual success on both the men’s and women’s sides. Marc Sebastian Montalvo ‘27 and David Seel ‘27 both placed in the top 50 out of 189 runners. On the women’s side, Jem Berney ‘26 placed 47th out of 180 runners. The team had a few goals for the meet. Markus Vottero ‘25 commented, “We had several goals coming into this meet, the first being to preview and observe the course, as this is where the Regionals meet will be held in November. The second, for the men specifically, was to get reacclimated to running 8 kilometers, a race distance two kilometers longer than the meet two weeks ago at Lehigh University. Both of these goals were met, as the men’s and women’s teams both ran well.”
Although this is only the beginning of their season, both teams are very confident and looking to improve. When asked about how the meet went, Julia Tassone ‘26 commented, “The meet was fantastic for us! We came in with a lot of confidence, but seeing everything come together on race day was especially rewarding.” She continued to discuss the team’s plan for moving forward. “A big focus is continuing to improve our pacing and building endurance in the middle miles, so we’re stronger in the second half of races.”
“The culture on the team is incredible right now” – Julia Tassone ’26
Keeping the competitive mindset has been something that the Mules have been working on and will continue to do throughout the remainder of the season. Lauren House ‘25 commented, “However, it’s definitely important for us to continue to work on our race mentality and be ready to always be chasing after the runner in front of us and trying to catch as many people as we can, especially in the latter half of the race.” She continued to express how the team is going to continue pushing themselves in practice. “We also have been doing harder and longer workouts this season that help us to get used to holding faster paces for longer periods of time and not giving up when our bodies start to get very fatigued.”
These workouts have been the product of the team’s new head coach this season. Amy Filanowski took over the head coach position after being the track and field assistant coach for two years. The changes in coaching staff have brought nothing but positive adjustments to the team. “The new coaches have been a game-changer. They’ve brought a lot of fresh ideas and new training techniques that have helped us improve both physically and mentally,” said Tassone. “The energy they bring has been contagious, and it’s helped us build on the momentum we have now.”
“Keeping the competitive mindset has been something that the Mules have been working on and will continue to do throughout the remainder of the season.”
House echoed these positive sentiments about the new coach. “She is really great about connecting with athletes 1-on-1 and having personal relationships with all of us which has created a really positive environment for everyone.”
Success for the Mules can also be accredited to the current culture of the team: “The culture on the team is incredible right now. We’re really close-knit, and that’s been a huge part of our success,” said Tassone. Runners this year have been very close on and off the course. The relationship between runners has also pushed them to hold each other accountable. “A nice thing about this year’s group is that many of us run similar times in races and workouts. This means we have a buddy during all of our workouts and can push each other to do our best during those workouts,” said House. Despite many of the first-year runners being injured, they are still able to play a pivotal role in supporting and encouraging those who are competing.
The Mules will continue their strong and confident season with their next meet on Oct. 5 at Lehigh University.
