DYLAN FORMAN
Staff Writer
On Saturday, the men’s and women’s cross country teams traveled to Rochester to compete in the Yellowjacket Invitational, which was hosted by the University of Rochester. Although both teams battled inclement weather and injuries, they were able to run strong performances to place well.
The men were running without their number two runner, junior standout Collin Mulcahy, due to injury. Despite missing Mulcahy, the team was able to compile strong performances, although slow times, to place them seventh out of 24 teams. SUNY Oneonta was the overall winner with just 55 points. Fredonia’s seventh place finish consisted of 151 points.
The top runner for the men, for the first time in his collegiate career, was senior Jed Kovalovsky with a 15th place finish. Due to the weather, he completed the Genesee Valley Park 8-kilometer course in 26:58. While times were much slower than usual, the overall winner (Jacob Andrews of RPI) only ran 26:13.
Second for the men was senior Zakk Hess, in 25th place, with a time of 27:07. Following Hess was junior Kyle Collins (30th) in 27:15, and senior captain Chris Shartrand (33rd) in 27:23. Rounding out the scoring five for the men was sophomore Cody Martini (51st) who completed the course in 27:45.
The displacers for the Blue Devils were sophomore Bobby Cooper (27:57) and freshman Merlin Joseph (28:10).
The women’s cross country team also competed on Saturday, finishing in 11th place out of 22 teams. The women also battled injuries and weather, competing without one of their top runners, senior Amanda Cocchiara.
Leading the women’s team was junior Lauren Kotas who completed the 6-kilometer course in 24:16, earning a 23rd place finish. Next up was sophomore Bonnie Binggeli (80th place) with a time of 25:25. The rest of the scoring five consisted of sophomore Alyssa Stroud (109th) in 25:57, sophomore Kara Hall (112th) in 25:59, and senior Emily Palmeri (117th) in 26:02.
The women’s displacers were sophomore Julia Johnson and freshman Madison Courtney.
The next time the cross country teams will be in action is Saturday, Sept. 27 in Rochester. They will be running in the Harry F. Anderson Invitational which is hosted by Roberts Wesleyan.