On Saturday September 3, the Colgate men’s and women’s cross country teams hosted the annual Harry Lang Invitational.

The women’s squad placed a very respectable second place as a team, highlighted by the domi­nant first-place finish of star senior Elise DeRoo. DeRoo completed the 4.2-kilometer race in a blazing fast 15:48. Her performance was the second-fastest official time recorded in history at the Harry Lang Invitational. The seasoned vet­eran finished an incredible 23 seconds ahead of the second place finisher. DeRoo was modest yet pleased with her performance on the weekend.

“It’s encouraging to be able to start the sea­son with a good performance. It indicates that you’ve put in the proper training over the sum­mer and that you have a good foundation to build upon over the course of the season.”

The Raiders placed two additional runners in the top-10 at the meet, with senior Kendall Lyons and first-year Megan Keane finishing in eighth place and tenth place, respectively. Lyons crossed the line in a respectable 17:05, while Keane finished close behind in 17:54. When the dust settled, the Raiders placed five runners in the top-15. DeRoo was particularly pleased with the depth of Colgate’s runners.

“Our fifth through eighth runners all looked very strong which is highly encouraging, as it indicates that in the event of someone in the top-five having a bad race, we will have the depth to fill the gap.” DeRoo said.

The meet was won by Syracuse University, who placed an incredible five runners in the top-ten, beating Colgate by 17 points. Rebekah MacKay highlighted Syracuse’s performance, snapping the tape in just 16:11. The Raiders will return to their home course next weekend on Saturday September 10 to compete in the Colgate Invitational. It will be the squad’s last home meet of the season.

The men’s squad also experienced a great deal of success at their season-opening meet. The Raiders placed second overall as a team in the 6-kilometer race, and placed a solid six runners in the top-15. Just as was the case with the wom­en’s team, the men’s performance was highlighted by an individual title. Junior Chris Johnson kept pace with Syracuse’s squad for the first mile of the race, putting himself in an excellent position to win the race. He ultimately snapped the tape in just 20:41. Junior teammate Chris Wendt and sophomore Timothy Phelps also placed in the top-ten for the Raiders, placing eighth and ninth, respectively. The two crossed the line al­most simultaneously, both posting official times of 21:47. The Raiders will return to action this Saturday September 10 when they host the Colgate Invitational.

Contact Matt Flannery at [email protected].