While the collective runners after Mazzocco, who placed first in every race for the Lions before this weekend, at times lagged behind their leader, they have really begun to step up in the last two meets, including the Regional meet in Lock Haven earlier this month.
This time it was junior Joel Moceri who was the frontrunner for the Lions, finishing 13th with a time of 25:35. Next in line were seniors Chris Pruitt in 14th place (25:44) and Josh Loren took 21st (25:50), followed by junior Tim Walker in 31st (26:03 and freshman Dan Diechert finished the scoring in 52nd place (26:22).
It was the first time Walker scored points for the Lions all season.
"I thought it was great to get to third out of there," said Groves, noting that James Madison had their full team intact. "We're real satisfied. We ran well today, as we did all season."
The third place finish was impressive for the Lions who, besides missing Mazzocco, were also without juniors Scott Munro and Chris Foster, and sophomore Shaun Cavanaugh to various injuries.
The Lions and Groves will look for more good things today when Mazzocco heads to Waterloo, Iowa to compete in the NCAA Cross Country Championships, which he qualified for by taking first place at Lock Haven. Today will be only his second 10,000 meter race this season.
It has been a turnaround for Mazzocco, who missed most of last season with a stress fracture. With the temperature in the low 40s and inclement weather possible, Groves said anything can happen, and likes the way Mazzocco has been putting things together recently.
So what are his chances of earning All-America status, which goes to the top-25 American runners?
"I would say pretty good," Groves said. "The question is do you let him go out and try and run with the leaders. It could get pretty fast. We'll do something in between [trying to win and earning All-America]."
