DYLAN FORMAN
Special to The Leader
On a rain-filled Saturday in Fredonia, the sun came out and shone over Beaver Island State Park in Grand Island. With the smell of the fresh cut grass covering the eight-kilometer course, the men and women’s cross country teams were ready to hold their own against a field of NCAA Division I schools.
The men came out and ran strong as a team from start to finish. Leading the way was the strong duo of seniors Collin Mulcahy and Kyle Collins. Mulcahy appears better than ever and ready to make his mark on the season. Mulcahy was the top Blue Devil finisher on Saturday with a time of 26:57 for the five-mile race. Collins was just steps behind at 26:59. Rounding out the scoring five for the men was junior Bobby Cooper, followed by Merlin Joseph and captain Cody Martini.
Going into the race, Head Coach Tom Wilson was looking for the men to build a stronger unit of displacers. On Saturday, the displacers were freshman Joe Northrup and Charles Loiacano. Once the SUNYAC Championships and NCAA Regional Championships come around, only the top seven runners will be able to compete. As the season progresses, Wilson will be hoping to see a plethora of runners fighting for those final two spots.
As a team, the men and women both finished fifth out of seven teams. Of those seven competing teams, Fredonia was the only Division III school. Meanwhile, both teams were able to defeat two Division I teams thanks to their performances.
Wilson said, “Today’s race shows that both these teams are willing to listen to race plans, work together and really focus on the race, not the clock.”
In the women’s five-kilometer race, the top Fredonia finisher was Laura Morrison, who ran an astounding time of 19:13. Her time placed her 32nd overall. Next, in 42nd place, was Lauren Kotas with a strong time of 19:29. The rest of the scoring five for the women consisted of Bonnie Binggeli, Hannah Kurbs and Julia Johnson. The displacers were Stephanie Wojnowski and captain Kara Hall.
After the race, Wilson discussed team goals for moving forward.
“For the men, we are going to be more aggressive in the late portion of our season,” said Wilson. “For the women, [our plan is] to stay strong as a full team and run a progressive season till the end.