Local Grad becomes Assistant Coach
By: Ashley Wallace
If you walk down to the McCann “gym” which is now a tent placed right outside of the building between the times of eleven and four thirty, you’ll see the Marist Cross Country teams gathered around. This year, that group of students and coaches gained a new addition to their so called family and coaching staff. Nick Cruz, a graduate of Washingtonville High School, attended SUNY New Paltz before transferring to Stony Brook, graduating in 2018, and ultimately becoming Marist’s new assistant coach this past September. As a local high school athlete and a former New Paltz athlete, Cruz is familiar with the trails and training spots around the Hudson Valley, some of which are training locations for the cross country teams. Through this knowledge of the running locations, and recent experience of being an NCAA athlete the Marist athletes feel as though Cruz was a good addition to their team, especially the men’s team.
Palmer Weimann, a senior captain of the men’s team, had a lot of praise when talking about this addition of Nick Cruz.
“I believe that Nick has brought a new perspective to the team. I know that I have personally benefitted from Nick, as he has designed several workouts for me, and he has made a very concentrated effort to help me personally, sometimes waking up at four in the morning to come help my workouts when I miss practice for class,” said Weimann.
When it comes to the women’s program, the women know all about new assistant coaches being brought in. Nick Cruz was brought in to fill a spot taken by Coach Erica Maker, now the head coach at St. Olaf University in Minnesota, just last year, and feel as though Nick is filling the spot very well.
“I like the fact that we added Nick to the coaching staff. I think it’s good that he just graduated so he can draw on his NCAA experience. Its also helpful that he came from a different school because it adds a different perspective to our program to use as a comparison,” said Kerry Gaye, a senior captain on the women’s side.
When talking about Nick’s addition with a new perspective from a different program, the athletes have nothing but praise to give.
“Nick’s experience away from our program at Stony Brook allowed him to develop ideas about running that are different from our coaches, and give us an insight into one of the best programs in the Northeast. These new ideas have been integrated into our program, to the better of many athletes,” said Weimann.
As cross country comes to a close for these runners, they have seen the positives of adding Cruz to the coaching staff.
Debbie Boerke, a senior, is excited about the upcoming track seasons with the new addition.
“Nick really adds to the team as a whole, he supports the girls team during our workouts by cheering us on, taking times, and helping anyone who gets hurt. Moving forward, Nick’s role as a coach will only grow and he will definitely add to the team overall.”
