A mix of experience and youth looks to be a recipe for success for the Massachusetts Maritime women’s cross country team this season, as veteran Head Coach Linda Letourneau welcomes back six letterwinners that will look to lead the Buccaneers in the always rugged Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference.

Leadership as always been a staple of Letourneau’s program, and this fall will be no exception, as the former Buccaneer standout has appointed seniors Lauren Bateman (Newbury, Mass./Newburyport) and Liz Leonardi (Sandwich, Mass./Sandwich) to serve as co-captains for the upcoming campaign.  Letourneau, who was a member of Massachusetts Maritime’s first teams during her matriculation at the Academy in the mid-80’s, describes the duo as ““dedicated and gifted leaders both in competition and in our campus community.  They have set, and will continue to set, incredibly positive examples for their teammates and classmates, and they are strong representatives of our program.”

In addition to her captains, Letourneau will rely on the experience of returning seniors Kelsie Brien (Methuen, Mass./Methuen), Jenelle Piche (Coventry, R.I./Coventry) and Corinne Prado (Raynham, Mass./Bridgewater-Raynham), as Leonardi was the top individual performer in four competitions for the Buccaneers last fall.  Junior Kelsey Lombardi (Forestdale, Mass./Upper Cape Tech) also returns to lend additional experience for Massachusetts Maritime in 2013.

Five newcomers will also dot Letourneau’s roster this season, as she welcomes juniors Elise LaBonte (Weymouth, Mass./Weymouth), Jillian Petrarca (Matunuck, R.I./South Kingstown) and Rachel Simpson (Griswold, Conn./Griswold), sophomore Dominique Dertien (Panama City, Fla./Balboa Academy) and freshman Celeste Menard (Annandale, Va./Woodson) to the Buccaneer fold.

Massachusetts Maritime begins the new campaign on Saturday, September 7^th by hosting the Ninth Annual Lt. Travis J. Fuller Invitational on campus beginning at 10:00 a.m. EDT.  The Buccaneers will compete in nine total events this fall, including regular season invitationals at the University of New England, UMass Dartmouth, Elms, CCRI, Westfield State and Emmanuel before running in the MASCAC/New England Alliance Championships on November 2^nd at Southern Maine.