Mae Polson joined the Lesley University cross country coaching staff for the 2012 season.

She began running in middle school and went to compete in cross country and track at Camden Hills Regional High School in Rockport, ME.  At Camden Hills, Polson was the team captain and top runner on the team.  She also ran in the Junior Olympics in the 5k and qualified for Nationals. After high school, Mae went on to get her degree in fashion design at Syracuse University.

Following her graduation, Mae began running half marathons and full marathons for Team in Training and has raised thousands of dollars for cancer research. In 2011, Mae ran the Walt Disney Marathon and qualified for the Boston Marathon. She has run three marathons and seven half marathons and qualified for a second marathon in the fall of 2012.

Former Lynx standout Fran Cusick rejoined Lesley cross country as an assistant coach in the fall of 2011.

While at Lesley, Cusick was a four time all-conference runner and a member of the first Lesley cross country team in 2006. In his last year running at Lesley, the Lynx men’s team captured the New England Collegiate Conference Championship, which was the first men’s league championship in the history of Lesley University. Coach Cusick had PR’s of 26:08 (8k) 16:33 (5k) and 4:28 (mile) while running collegiately.

After graduation, Cusick moved on to coach varsity cross country at Mount Alvernia High School in Newton, where he led the team to their highest finish in recent school history. He has also been the distance coach at Arlington Catholic High School, where he helped qualify 8 athletes for the Massachusetts Division IV state meet and 1 athlete to the All-State meet.

Cusick is a USATF Certified Level 1 Track and Field Coach who continues to run competitively post-collegiately. He recently completed the New Bedford Half Marathon in 1:12:55, which is about a 5:33 mile pace for 13.1 miles and is looking to compete at the 2012 Philadelphia Marathon. Coach Cusick currently works at Tewksbury Memorial High School in Tewksbury, MA.