This past weekend both the men’s and women’s cross country teams were in action for their second meets of the season. The men, competing in the University of Buffalo (UB) Stampede Invitational, finished third while the women travelled down south and placed 10th in the Iona Meet of Champions.

Competing in wet and rainy conditions, the men took to the course for an 8,000 kilometer race. Leading the way for the Raiders was junior Ben Aldrich who ended up finishing 14th overall in the event. Walking on to the team last year, Aldrich finished with a respectable time of 26:01.

Closely following behind Aldrich was sophomore Cody Hawkins who placed 21st overall in the event with a time of 27:26. After Hawkins, a pack of Raider runners came in finishing 23rd, 24th and 25th overall.

This pack consisting of sophomore Chris Noda, senior Everett Stilley and junior James Paris all finished within five seconds of each other and helped edge out Niagara for third place.

Finishing just after the main pack of Raider runners was first-year Bennett Levis who finished 28th with a time of 27:49. After Levis came senior Greg Englehart who placed 30th and sophomore Scott Walker who finished within 10 seconds of Englehart.

Rounding out the squad were first-years James Sheehy, Troy Kelly and Max Kurzner who all finished in the top 50 positions overall in the race.

On the women’s side, the Raiders travelled downstate to compete in the 19th annual Iona Meet of Champions. With 20 teams competing, the Raiders faced tough competition and were pleased with their 10th place finish ahead of teams such as Marist, St. John’s and Siena.

Leading the charge for the Raiders was sophomore Olivia Brackett. Placing 12th out of 190 runners, Brackett paced the Raiders with her time of 23:19 in the 6 kilometer race. Finishing just behind Brackett was junior Megan Keane with a time of 23:24. Leading the Raider pack, these two were the only top-20 finishers for the Raiders on race day.

After the top two runners, the Raiders next runner that came in was sophomore Holland Reynolds. Finishing with a time of 24:12, Reynolds placed 53rd overall. Just under a minute later, junior Emily Hanrahan finished 82nd with a time

of 25:06.

Running closely together and finishing in 107th and 111th positions were first-years Shannon Young and Anna Orientale. The two first-years finished within five seconds of each other at the 25:45 mark of the race. Following just about a minute behind the two was sophomore Caroline Davidson who placed 143rd overall.

Rounding out the Raiders runners on the day were first-years Jordan Chervin and Rebecca Easly who finished with times of 28:04 and 29:40 respectively. At the end of the day, the Raiders 255 points were good enough to earn them 10th at the meet.

Men’s cross country travel next week to compete against Cazenovia before both teams meet up again and travel to Bethlehem, Pa for the annual Paul Short Invitational on October 5.

Contact Spencer Serling at [email protected].