Last weekend, the Colgate cross country teams traveled to Easton, PA to participate in the 2010 Patriot League Championships hosted by Lafayette College.

The women’s team, led by the junior duo of Elise DeRoo and Chelsea Burns, captured its first ever Patriot League cham­pionship by blowing past the competition with an exceptional score of 42 points. The Raiders were followed by the Bucknell Bison with 64 points and the Army Black Knights with 93 points.

The men’s team also had a worthy per­formance, finishing fourth overall. Senior Ed Sheridan placed the highest for Colgate at seventh overall. The Navy Midshipmen took the title for the third consecutive year, followed in the standings by the American Eagles and Army.

The Raider women placed four runners in the top-15 en-route to a tournament-best 42 points. DeRoo won the individ­ual title for the second consecutive year, posting a school-record time of 19:17. Burns took home second place in the race, crossing the finish line in 20:07.

Senior captain Julie Tarallo placed ninth with a career-best time of 20:50 in her fi­nal Patriot League race of the fall season. Junior Kendall Lyons placed 13th, while sophomore Caroline Prins rounded out the top five for Colgate by placing 17th in the field. The two finished with times of 21:12 and 21:20, respectively.

The solid individual finishes allowed the squad to take home the hardware.

“I think our expectations were high, as we’ve worked hard all season,” DeRoo said in an interview conducted by Colgate Ath­letics. “There was a lot of positive energy and it turned out well.”

Sheridan crossed the finish line with a personal-best time of 24:52. Sophomore Chris Johnson finished just behind Sheri­dan in ninth place with a time of 25 min­utes flat. The time was also a personal best for Johnson.

Senior Dan Gleason finished well in his final Patriot League race of the fall season, finishing just behind Johnson with a final time of 25:37.

Those who qualified for the NCAA Championship Qualifier from both teams will travel to Van Cortlandt Park in New York City on November 12.