Last Saturday, the Colgate University men’s and women’s cross country teams hosted the Harry Lang Invitational and achieved very positive results. The men finished third in a field of six teams behind Bucknell University and Syracuse University, while the women finished second in a field of six teams, coming in behind Bucknell. The six participating squads were Colgate, Bucknell, Syracuse, Utica College, Nazareth College and Delhi College.

In the Men’s 6K race, junior Ed Sheridan finished first among Colgate runners and sixth overall with a time of 21:01. Sheridan placed behind three runners from Bucknell and two from Syracuse. Junior Dan Gleason was the second Raider to cross the line with a time of 21:44, situating him in seventeenth place overall. Sophomore Tim Metivier finished third within Colgate runners and twenty-seventh overall with a time of 22:05, while fellow sophomore Mitchell Boucher placed fourth in the team with a time of 22:10, good enough for twenty-ninth overall.

“We will be working on our strength to run hills,” Head Coach Art McKinnon said. “We will also be working on strength through 90 to 100 miles a week of running.”

Bucknell won the men’s competition with the low score of 26 points, while the Raiders donned 72 points, winning them the bronze medal.

In the women’s race, the Colgate Raiders had better luck. Colgate finished second, falling only to Bucknell. The Raiders placed three runners in the top 10 and seven in the top 17 en route to a 44-point second place finish. Sophomore Elise DeRoo obtained the individual title in the 4,200 meter race, posting the second best time ever recorded for the meet. She crossed the line in 16:09, just one second behind the meet record set in 2007 by Stacy Marion.

“Nearly all of the upperclassmen ran 30 seconds to 1:10 faster than last year, and the first-year runners debuted with excellent times,” Head Coach Laura Nardelli said. “Our front runner, Elise DeRoo, handily beat Syracuse’s fourth best runner, who represented their team at the NCAAs last year. Senior Emily Oliver was fantastic as a sophomore two years ago, and after a year abroad, she came back in even better shape. Junior Julie Tarallo was a little ill, but as the 10K champion last spring, I expect her to improve a great deal over the season. Sophomore Chelsea Burns was a bit under the weather, but is steadily improving. Sophomore Allie Bodack is also in much better shape than ever before and has the potential to go much faster.”

Oliver was the second Raider to cross the line with a time of 16:58. Tarallo and Burns finished in third and fourth place among Colgate runners with times of 17:03 and 17:11.

The Colgate men’s and women’s cross country teams will next hit the course when they host the Colgate Invitational on September 19. The women’s race is set to begin at 11:00 a.m., while the men’s race is expected to start at 12:15 p.m.