The Colgate cross country team raced last weekend at Penn State University, in a tune up for the upcoming Patriot League Championships. Overall, the men’s team ended up placing 29th out of 37 teams. Of Colgate’s six runners, junior Michael Hanlon led the way for the Raiders, finishing 10th out of 294 runners. Hanlon, the reigning Patriot League Cross Country Runner of the Week, completed the 8K course in 25:39.

“The race went okay; we had some guys that struggled due to being sick, but we also had some guys that raced really well,” Hanlon said. “So it sort of evened out to an average performance.”

The Raiders were also led by senior co-captains Nate Rosenthal, who finished in 136th place; Sean Curran, who placed 171st; and junior Andrew Isabel, who crossed the line in 214th place. Junior Scott DeRoo (226th place) and first-year Joseph Schaeffer (231st place) also participated in the race for Colgate. The Raiders also got a good look at Patriot League foes Bucknell, American and Lehigh, all of whom will be racing against the Raiders again in two weeks at the League Championships.

“In the preseason poll, we were picked to place sixth; if everyone is healthy and runs to their capability, that will be a good finish for us as a team,” head coach Art McKinnon said.

The Raiders will have to battle tough league opponents such as American, Army and Navy.

“Looking ahead to the Patriot League race, I think we have the potential to do really well,” Hanlon said. “We have the advantage this year of being familiar with the course from having raced there earlier this year, and we have the advantage with being familiar with our competition.”

The Patriot League Championships will be held next weekend on the campus of Lehigh University. Hanlon appears to be extremely confident in the Raiders’ abilities.

“I expect us to improve on our sixth place finish from last year,” he said.”Individually, I expect to win. I won’t be satisfied with anything less.”

Last year, Hanlon finished fifth, behind four runners from American. The Raiders will look to the leadership of Hanlon and Rosenthal, who finished 45th in last year’s championship, and Curran, who finished 49th, to guide them to a strong showing this year. Colgate will look then to DeRoo and Isabel to round out its top five.

As most of the team was competing at Penn State, two other Colgate runners were in action at the University of Albany. Sophomores Jeffrey Tufts and Timothy Drucker both achieved personal bests in the race by shaving off over 45 seconds from their best times. Tufts and Drucker placed 42nd and 43nd, respectively, in the Albany Cross Country Invitational Purple Race.

This weekend the Raiders will take a break to gear up for the upcoming Patriot League Championships at Lehigh.

The Colgate women’s cross country team also had a successful weekend in Albany. The Lady Raiders competed in the 39th annual University of Albany Cross Country Invitational. Colgate placed 7th out of a field of 23 teams. The women were led by sophomore Elizabeth Kennedy, who finished 18th and Junior Hannah Failing, who took 21st. Kennedy ran the 5k race in 18:23, while Failing finished just 13 seconds later.

Other runners for the Raiders were sophomore Kathryn Marvel, 43rd, and senior Meghan McAnaney, 53rd. Sophomore Abby Chapman and first-year Jessica Kielty finished within a second of each other. The Raiders ran past local rivals, Hamilton College and SUNY Cortland.

The Raiders will take a brief break to prepare for the Patriot League Championship also at Lehigh on October 29th. The Colgate women were predicted to finish fifth in preseason polls, and the ladies have seen several Patriot league foes this season including, Bucknell, American, Lehigh, and Lafayette. With two first-place finishes already this season, the Raiders look to build on past success and post a good showing at the championship.