In what was their second meet of the season, Colgate Men’s and Women’s cross country teams finished sixth and eighth, respectively, at the annual University of Buffalo Stampede Cross Country Invitational on Friday, September 14. The 6K race was held at the Audubon Golf Course, which also served as the site of last year’s NCAA Northeast Regional Championships.

The Colgate Men’s team picked up 176 points in their sixth place finish out of seven teams in the field, featuring Cornell, Buffalo, Duquesene, McMaster, Waterloo and Indiana University of Pennsylvania. The top-performer for the Raiders on the Men’s side was Lucas Culley, who led the squad with a finishing time of 27:22.5 on the 8000 meter course, good for 44th out of 82 runners. Following directly after Culley were two more Colgate finishers, Luke Meyers clocking in at 27:28.5, capped off by Ryan Curren at 27:34.1.

“Lucas Culley had a great race as our top finisher. Another good performance was Jonathan Abbott competing again. He’s been a little banged up so he just helped pace some of our first-years today. I expect him to be a major contributor by the end of the season,” Associate Head Coach Luke Burdick said.

For the women, Vicky Martinez had the top time for the second week in a row, crossing the line with a time of 23:58.7 which was good for a 55th overall finish in the meet comprising of nine teams. Martinez was followed by Hannah Gunther who was not far behind with a 60th place finish at a time of 24:06.3. The fastest freshman time on the team was held by Sophie Manners, who had a time of 24:51.4, which was third on the team.

“Vicky Martinez led us again today, but I was very impressed with Hannah Gunther and Sophia Manners. Both made great strides and it’s good to see their hard work paying off. I was happy with both the men and women today. It was a hazy, hot and humid afternoon and runners were dropping like flies. Both the men and women showed their toughness in how well they competed,” Burdick said.

Next up for both teams is the Paul Short Invitational in Bethlehem, PA, the home of Lehigh University.

Contact Neil Ahlawat at [email protected].