Hatter Seniors Make Lasting Impression on Program

Stetson Competes For ASUN Championship Saturday

The four seniors on this year's Stetson University women's cross country team were all multiple-sport athletes in high school, and each had to decide which sport they would compete in at the collegiate level.

Clarissa Consol's first sport of choice was soccer, and she had committed to play soccer at Stetson. However, after running cross country for the first time as a senior in high school and posting some good times, her coach encouraged her to continue running in college.

Consol talked with and received an invitation from then-Stetson cross country head coach Joe Matuszczak to join the program, so she decided to in trade her soccer cleats for a pair of running shoes.

"It was a tough decision, but I never regretted it," Consol said. "I like the individual aspect of cross country. It is all about the work I put in. The effort that I want to put in is what I will end up getting out of it. It is easy for me to put in extra work in running."

Daniella Godenzi's choice was between cross country and volleyball, a sport she had been playing competitively since grade school. Giving it up was also not an easy decision, but like Consol, she chose to focus her athletic efforts on cross country.

"I got real passionate about running and saw how it helps me mentally and physically," Godenzi said. "It helps me stay healthy for sure. It also teaches me to push myself and believe that my body can push past certain limits. I just have to tell myself that I can do it."

Unlike Consol and Godenzi, Laurie Scott and Brianne Boldrin didn't make cross country their first choice, even though they both ran in high school. Instead, both elected to start their Hatter careers with the women's soccer program, competing on the pitch for two seasons. It was not until the spring semester of their sophomore years that both decided to make the change to cross country.

"At first, I wanted to play soccer in college. I figured I had my whole life to run," Scott said. "I switched because I believed I could make more of an impact on the cross country team."

"I learned a lot playing soccer, but I think the cross country program was a better fit for me," Boldrin said. "It allowed me to do a lot more than just be a student-athlete. I had the ability to do other things."

In 2015, Boldrin traveled to Austria for the Summer Innsbruck Program and spent an additional four weeks traveling around Europe. This past summer, she completed an internship with IBM's Chief Information Office in Raleigh, N.C. That internship led to a part-time job during the school year, and a full-time job is waiting for her at IBM upon her graduation from Stetson.

"I definitely would not have a job lined up if I hadn't done that internship," Boldrin said.

Godenzi also spent time traveling and studying abroad, including a trip to Hong Kong for the 2016 spring semester.

"I loved it so much. I wish I had done it my sophomore year, too," Godenzi said. "It was such a great experience. I was also able to travel over the weekends to other countries. I still kept up with the (cross country) program. I did my own runs and tried to stay fit so I wouldn't come back and have to start from zero."

Following in the footsteps of her older sister, a rowing national champion at Nova Southeastern, Scott became a rare three-sport athlete and joined the Stetson rowing program as well. She now focuses on cross country in the fall and rowing in the spring.

"I enjoy rowing, because it is something completely different than any other sport," Scott said. "(Rowing and cross country) are both hard and intense sports, and at the end of a 2K for rowing, you feel like you are dead, but you usually have a second race that day. They are both mentally challenging sports, because you have to stay focused the whole time."

Consol says running has given her opportunities to see many unique and picturesque places when she is on the road traveling. This past summer, she ran in the Appalachian Mountains in northern Alabama as well as on the famous Pre's trail in Eugene, Ore.

"Pre's Trail is the best place I have ever run," Consol said. "Lots of elite and top college athletes were out running on it while I was there, and the trail was so beautiful. During Christmas break last year, I got to run all over Kansas. That was fun."

The seniors say being a part of the Hatters' cross country program has been a fun experience and has given them several friendships that were last well-past their college years.

"We are a close-knit group," Scott. We run together every day. When we are not dying during a workout, we chat. We talk about it. We are involved with each other's lives, which is really nice."

"Having fun makes you better," Boldrin said. "If you enjoy the sport, you are going to be performing well. In life too, if you are not enjoying what you are doing, you probably are not going to be doing it well.

The seniors have also helped create a recent resurgence in the women's cross country program. After finishing last in the conference five years in a row from 2009-13, the Hatters climbed to sixth in the conference championship in 2014, and last year's fifth-place finish was the program's highest placement since 1992.

"It has kind of been the recurring theme since I have been here," Consol said. "Every year seems to be one step up from the previous one."

"I feel we have all improved tremendously each year," Godenzi said. "We have been focusing on the teams being closer. We have tried to move up each year, and hopefully we can do it again this year."

The Hatter seniors will look make one more impact on the program in the 2016 ASUN Conference Championship this Saturday in Spartanburg, S.C. The women will run a 5K race at 8:30 a.m. and the men will run an 8K race at 9:30 a.m. at the Millken Research Center at USC Upstate. Weather conditions Saturday are expected to be ideal for racing.

Stetson's training regimen this year under head coach Bryan Harmon included heavy mileage early in the season transitioning into speed workouts leading up to the conference championship. Everyone is looking forward to seeing the results of the training come to fruition on Saturday.

"Because of our training and our intense workouts, we haven't been completely fresh in any of our races," Boldrin said. "Our legs have been tired. It is exciting because this is going to be our first fresh race. This will be a good test for us to see what we really have when we are fresh and ready to go."

"I think coach Harmon has done a great job of peaking us at the right time," Consol said. "This year, I feel stronger than ever. I am ready for a breakthrough race. We have a good shot of lots of people having breakthrough races and PRs. That is what it is all about. That would be a great way to finish the season."

Follow the @StetsonXC and @ASUNXCTF twitter feeds for the latest updates from the ASUN Championship.

Academic Majors:
Brianne Boldrin – Business Systems and Analytics, and Applied Statistics
Clarissa Consol – Mathematics (Minors in Psychology and Applied Statistics)
Daniella Godenzi – International Business, and Management
Laurie Scott – Integrative Health Science, and Biology

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Players Mentioned

Brianne Boldrin: Senior

Clarissa Consol: Senior

Daniella Godenzi: Senior

Laurie Scott: Senior

Players Mentioned

Brianne Boldrin
: Senior

Clarissa Consol
: Senior

Daniella Godenzi
: Senior

Laurie Scott
: Senior

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Hatter Seniors Make Lasting Impression on Program

Stetson Competes For ASUN Championship Saturday

Players Mentioned

Brianne Boldrin

Clarissa Consol

Daniella Godenzi

Laurie Scott

Players Mentioned

Brianne Boldrin

Clarissa Consol

Daniella Godenzi

Laurie Scott