Sometimes during the trials and tribulations of an athletic season, a coach needs to know when the sound of his voice is a welcome addition to the psyche of his athletes and when the members of the team need to lean on each other for guidance.
For Lehman College cross country and track coach Lesleigh Hogg, the utilization of his senior runners as a fountain of knowledge for the underclassmen and as a guiding resource has been an ongoing practice on the Bronx campus.
With an exceptional crew of seniors, four from the women’s team and three from the men’s team, having departed, Coach Hogg is hoping that this year’s two returning upperclassmen, Irfan Anwar and Oscar Kamalu, can pick up the slack and lead the squad.
“The ones that have been here have the guidance of the seniors who left,” said Hogg, “That helps to continue the tradition we have so the underclassmen pretty much know what is expected of them and what they should expect from themselves.”
Both Anwar and Kamalu placed in the top 15 in CUNY last year and look to be in fine form in the early season. Courtney Thomas, a Bronx resident and transfer from City Tech, adds experience and talent to the squad while Peter Esposito, whose brother Richard also competes, will be running cross country for the first time.
On the women’s side, three returnees will pace the team. Michaelle Garcon was somewhat of a surprise last season when she stepped in for the since departed Dorothy Jean-Pierre, but her continued improvements made her one of the team’s leaders. Her presence will be felt even more once the indoor and outdoor track seasons begin. Sophomore Caroline Chung and junior Shante Richardson round out the team’s core group. Newcomer Claudia Scarlett, a junior college transfer, will be looked to as an instant contributor.
According to Hogg, the period just before the Lightning Invitational on October 3rd and the CUNY Track Conference (CTC) Championships on October 16th is the time when he hopes the team should be peaking. From there he should have a feel for how the team will finish the remainder of the schedule as well as how they will stack up heading into the indoor and outdoor meets.
“I haven’t gotten a chance to see how the other programs look this year,” said Hogg. “I’ll know how we stand up against them in a few weeks and what we need to do to make a statement in the CUNY championships.”
One thing he most likely won’t have to do, however, is search for leadership among his players.