Even though there’s not much question that senior Michael Hanlon is the most valuable harrier on the men’s cross country team, there is one question that remains: Is Michael Hanlon the most valuable fall sport athlete at Colgate University? The Ann Arbor native certainly made his case at the Albany Invitational last Saturday when, after having already broken the Harry Long Cross Country Course record earlier in the season, he ran an 8k course-record time of 24:23.8 in Albany. His time led the Colgate Raiders to an 11th place finish out of 27 teams at the Albany Invitational, which the University of New Hampshire won.

“He’s set the pace and given the program a national level of recognition,” Head Coach Art McKinnon said. “He’s been the main leader on the athletic field.”

Hanlon was not the only runner to perform well in Albany. First-year Bryan Krestchmer placed 53rd out of 220 in the 8k race. His time of 26:12.8 narrowly beat sophomore Emmett Weatherford’s mark of 26:14.0.

The Colgate women’s cross country team also performed well in Albany, finishing sixth out of 22 teams at the Albany Invitational. The University of Guelph, a school located in Ontario, claimed first place. Five Raiders finished in the top 50 overall out of the 196 runners who competed. Senior Liz Crowley, who continued her outstanding season by finishing in 17th place overall, led the Raiders, posting a personal-best 5k time of 18:30.1, which beat her previous best record by 53 seconds. Senior Hannah Failing was the second Colgate runner to finish the 5k race with a time of 18:37.7. Senior Meaghan McAnaney and sophomores Kristen Kiraly and Jessica Kielty rounded out the top five Colgate finishers on the day.

After their strong finishes at the Albany Invitational, Colgate will host the extremely important Patriot League Championships on October 28th.