AIDAN POLLARD
Special to the Leader
On Oct. 28, the Blue Devils men’s and women’s cross country teams competed in the SUNYAC championship race hosted by SUNY Potsdam on a grueling and extremely hilly, looping course. The men came seventh out of 10 teams and the women placed fourth out of the same number.
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.
Brenna Donovan, a junior runner for the women’s program, came ninth overall in the SUNYAC race with a time of 23:23.8 over 6000 meters, earning her a medal and a spot on the podium.
“Honestly, just staying with everyone in the first three little loops [of the course] was important because in the last loop they were pulling away from me,” said Donovan. “So if I let them get away then I wouldn’t have even made the top ten.”
Donovan was followed by junior Hannah Kurbs, senior Kristen Guarino, freshman Sarah Kurbs and junior Emily Maguire, respectively. The displacement runners were senior Madison Courtney and freshman Sarah Buckley.
“I’m very happy with everyone’s performance. Especially our freshmen,” said Donovan.
The Fredonia women scored a total of 110 points to come between third place New Paltz, and fifth place, Cortland. The meet was won by Geneseo.
The Blue Devil men had two podium finishers: Merlin Joseph, who came sixth overall in a time of 27:13.7 and Ethan Francis, who came seventh in a time of 27:19.3. on the 8000 meter course. “A lot of it was just the hard work I did this summer,” said Joseph. “I took a lot of time to reflect on the struggles I had last season, and it took a lot of time to get over it and it was time for a fresh slate.”
Francis was inaugurated into the SUNYAC Hall of Fame after this race, due to his top 10 performances both in his sophomore year and this year. “It’s pretty cool,” said Francis. “Not a lot of people get to be in it, so it’s nice to be added into SUNYAC and Fredonia history.”
The scorers following Joseph and Francis for the men were sophomore Aidan Pollard, freshman Ryan Dunning and sophomore Kyle Egan. The displacement runners were freshmen Noah Watkins and Matt Erman.
The men scored a total of 158 points to come between sixth place Plattsburgh and eighth place New Paltz. The men’s race was also won by Geneseo.
All three podium finishers for SUNYACs have expressed a desire to make NCAA Division III Nationals, which requires a top 35 finish as an individual at the upcoming Atlantic Regional Championship to qualify. “I’m looking forward to being able to battle it out,” said Donovan. “My eyes are still on [nationals].”
“It’s a flat course, so there’s nothing to stop me,” said Francis. “I’m just gonna try to go out and close faster than I did today, and then hopefully qualify for NCAAs. I know even though my performance was the same as last year, I’m definitely a lot faster than last year.”
The next event for the Fredonia men’s and women’s cross country teams is the Atlantic Regional Championship, which is being held by Houghton College on Nov. 11.
Editor’s note: Aidan Pollard is a member of the Fredonia men’s cross country team.