On Saturday September 17, the Colgate men’s and women’s cross country teams stayed at home for the final time this sea­son while participating in the Colgate In­vitational at the Harry Lang Cross Coun­try Course. The men’s squad placed third overall, anchored by the impressive second place, record-breaking finish by junior Chris Johnson. The women’s team also placed third overall, led by consistent senior Elise DeRoo, who placed 12th overall in the event.

The men’s team echoed a strong second-place performance at home on September 3 with this week’s third-place finish (72 points). Junior team leader Chris Johnson excelled at this weekend’s meet, smashing the Colgate record by a whole 19 seconds in the 8K race. Johnson snapped the tape in 25:19, just one second behind first place finisher Pat Dupont of Syracuse University. Johnson seemed surprised by the record time saying, “I knew I was on pace for a good time since I was able to stick with [Dupont] for so long, but I wasn’t even thinking about setting the school record.”

The invitational was particularly prom­ising for the team’s future, as the Raiders’s top young talent came out of the gates fast en route to several impressive performanc­es. First-year Ben Aldrich was the second Raider to complete the grueling course, crossing the line in just 27:06. Classmate Everett Stilley was close behind, crossing the finish line just 15 seconds after his peer. Sophomore Tim Phelps, who impressed as a first-year last season, was the third Colgate runner to cross the line, finishing the race in 27:15. Syracuse University took home first place in the event, totaling 29 points. Cor­nell tallied 36 points en route to a second place overall finish. The Raiders will be pre­paring for the next two weeks for the Paul Short Run at Lehigh University on Septem­ber 30. When asked how the team would be preparing, Johnson noted that the Raid­ers will possibly lower their mileage in the coming weeks while increasing their inten­sity, with the hope of peaking at the Patriot League Championships in late-October.

The women’s team churned out an equally impressive performance on Satur­day, taking home third place in the Col­gate Invitational. However, where the men’s performance was marked by the emergence of young talent, the women’s was defined by senior leadership and con­sistency. Senior phenom Elise DeRoo once again anchored the Colgate squad, placing 12th overall with a final time of 22:11. Classmates Kendall Lyons (23rd overall) and Kelly Cattano (40th overall) were the second and third Colgate runners to cross the finish line. Lyons and Cattano finished with times of 22:46 and 24:03, respec­tively. The women’s team, like the men’s, will now spend the next two weeks pre­paring for what figures to be a significant challenge in the Paul Short Invitational at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsyl­vania. The race will be held on Saturday, September 30.

Contact Matt Flannery at

[email protected].