Last Saturday, the Colgate Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams hosted the Colgate Invitational. The Raiders finished in third place behind Syracuse University and United States Naval Academy. Syracuse won both the men’s and women’s races.

In the men’s fleet, Colgate was able to place four runners in the top 20, good for a total of 85 points. First-year Christopher Johnson led the way for the Raiders, placing 15th overall with a time of 27:33. Junior Ed Sheridan finished just one second behind him at 27:34, securing him to the 16th overall position. Junior Dan Gleason followed his teammates across the line for a 27:38 finish and 17th place. Junior Griffith Cannon caboosed the Colgate train; his 27:41 run and 18th overall finish made him the fourth consecutive Raider to hit the tape.

Though as a team the Raiders finished third out of three, there was positive feedback to take from the race.

“We had most of our runners ready and in shape,” sophomore Thomas Hedges said. “It was good to see that the training we have done in the past several weeks is paying off and we are not too far behind the other Patriot League teams. In the Harry Lang Invitational, a lot of our runners had trouble with the hills, so we worked hard on that aspect of the race, and this past weekend our runners’ times were better.”

Fellow junior Bryan Crowley came in twenty seconds after Cannon to complete the Raiders’ top five and earn the 21st overall position. The squad will need to work on several aspects in order to be ready for the Patriot League Championships later this season.

“We will need to keep working on hills,” Hedges said. “That, and we will also have to get healthier, since many runners currently have colds.”

In the women’s race, sophomore Elise DeRoo once again shined for Colgate. DeRoo led the Raiders, finishing in the ninth position overall with a personal best time of 22:24. DeRoo’s time shattered Colgate’s school record, raising the bar by a full minute. The previous record had belonged to Elizabeth Kennedy, who ran for the Raiders in 2006.

Sophomore Kelly Cattano finished second among the Raiders and 15th overall with a time of 23:47. Cattano was followed by juniors Hilary Hooley, who finished at 23:56 in 16th place and Julie Tarallo, who finished in the 17th position after 24:01 minutes of running.

“Everybody improved a lot in the past two weeks,” sophomore Chelsea Burns said. “There were some runners who had better times due to mileage. Another good thing is that we also were not too far behind Navy, the first-ranked team in the preseason poll.”

Senior Emily Oliver finished fourth amongst the Colgate runners, with a time of 24:16. First-year Jean Sauter placed fifth within the Raider runners, hitting the finish line with a time of 24:31. The Raiders will need to keep preparing and working hard before the Patriot League Championships.

“We need to get healthy, both from injuries and sickness,” Burns said. “We will need our top runners to work and run together. That will make us a faster team.”

The Colgate Raiders compete next on Saturday, October 3, where they will participate in the Paul Short Invitational, hosted by Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA.