By Jimmy Sullivan

The 2018 season was a historic one for the Fordham cross country team.

The year saw several historic performances, led by then-junior Ryan Kutch and senior Angelina Grebe. Kutch became the first Ram runner ever to win the Atlantic 10 championship in October while both Kutch and Grebe made it to the all-Atlantic 10 team at season’s end. Additionally, the women’s cross country team finished with a program-best third-place finish at the Atlantic 10 championship.

However, 2019 is a new season, and with it have come some significant changes.

The biggest difference between 2018 and 2019 for the Rams is at coach, as Tom Dewey retired over the summer after 39 years at the helm of the program. Stepping into his place is former assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Brian Horowitz, who had been one of Dewey’s assistants since 2013. The move is an adjustment for the Rams, but the team’s familiarity with Horowitz should ease the transition.

“It is going to be a big adjustment just because of what coach Dewey brought to the team with his experience, knowledge and coaching ability,” Kutch says. “However, coach Horowitz has done a great job as an assistant and the whole team is confident he will do equally as well as a head coach.”
Kutch is returning for his senior year having reached the pinnacle of achievement last season. That being said, he and his coach are still focused on improvement despite all of his achievements last year.

“Ryan has been very consistent over the past three years,” Horowitz says. “His consistency has led to continuous progression in performances each year. We hope to continue to take the next step and have Ryan compete against the other top distance runners in the country.”

Kutch will lead the men’s team with other solid returners, including sophomore Brandon Hall and senior Sean Sullivan. On the women’s side, the team will be led by seniors Katia Krzyzanowski and Sydney Snow, both of whom will be captains for the coming season. The former has a strong 17th-place showing at last year’s Atlantic 10 Tournament while Snow anchored the team’s ECAC champion 4×800 team.

The team will also get reinforcements in newcomers like John McGovern, Colin Flood and Nick Lundberg, all three of whom finished in the top 11 in the New Jersey Meet of Champions last year. On the women’s side, freshman standouts include Alexandra Thomas, Taylor Mascetta and Sarah Rubenheimer. Thomas and Mascetta both placed in the top six at various events in their respective state meets this past season.

“The conference is very tough and deep in the team competition,” Horowitz says. “But we see ourselves as a threat and look to compete along with the other top teams in the conference.”

The conference should be deep and competitive this year. So should these Rams.