AIDAN POLLARD
Special to the Leader
The Fredonia cross country program traveled with its top eight performers from both the men’s and women’s teams to Williams College in Massachusetts. The women competed in their first 6,000-meter race of the season and the men competed in their second 8,000-meter race.
In collegiate cross country points are scored by the top five individuals from each team, with the sixth and seventh runners counting as displacement runners, who are scored only if there is a tie between two teams. Each runner scores points equal to his or her overall place in the race, and the team with the lowest score wins.
The women’s team was led by junior Brenna Donovan to a 19th place finish in the 26-team field. “It was tough. Just the course in general was the hardest part for me, I think that was my hardest six-k I’ve ever ran,” said Donovan, who finished 69th in a time of 24:28.1. The race was won by Cordani Taryn of Ithaca in 21:35.5.
The following four scorers for the Fredonia women were junior Hannah Kurbs, senior Kristen Guarino, freshman Sarah Kurbs and junior Emily Maguire, respectively. Senior Madison Courtney, and freshmen Sarah Buckley and MaryClaire Haseley rounded out the team.
The Fredonia men were led by senior Merlin Joseph for the second week in a row to a 17th place finish in the 26-team field. Joseph ran a time of 27:18.6 for a 39th place spot individually. The race was won by Isaac Garcia-Cassani of SUNY Geneseo in a time of 25:50.2. “The meet could have gone a little better in certain areas, but under the circumstances I think we did the best we could have and all we can do now is move on to the next meet,” said Joseph.
Joseph was followed by junior Ethan Francis, freshman Ryan Dunning and sophomores Zak Kellerman and Aidan Pollard to finish out the scoring five. Senior Mitch Loiacano came sixth for the team with freshmen Noah Watkins and Wesley Cruz following him.
“It was a pretty competitive meet. Seven of the top 10 schools in the region were there, and 10 of the top 35 teams in the country were there,” said Loiacano. “We did a good job at pack running, keeping our spread small, but overall I think we have a lot more to give.”
The men’s and women’s teams will compete at the SUNY Geneseo Mike Woods Invitational this week. “I’m excited for Geneseo,” said Donovan. “We ran there twice last year so we know the course really well.” Joseph also commented on the teams traveling to Geneseo, saying, “I think we’ll have a good week of training, I think people will be a lot more certain with where they stand and I think the pack that we have for our three-through-seven guys will give them a lot of confidence and I think we’ll respond.”
The race at Geneseo will take place on Sept. 30, and will see the women run another 6,000-meter race and the men run another 8,000-meter race.
Editor’s note: Aidan Pollard is a member of the Fredonia men’s cross country team.