The cross country teams started off their new seasons on the right foot on Saturday in West Point.
Although the Army Invitational was seen mostly as a warm up for more important meets to come, neither team wasted an opportunity to get back into competition and set the tone for the year.
The men’s team out-distanced Colgate and Holy Cross to earn a third-place finish, while the women dominated the five-team field on its way to an early season victory.
The women’s performance was especially noteworthy and shows just how strong the team will be this year.
Pace Makers
The Red, which came into the meet ranked 23rd in nation, recorded six of the top 10 times in the meet.
Junior Jessica Parrott and sophomore Kate Boyles led the team, finishing 1-2.
Parrott posted a winning time of 23:08:00, while Boyles completed the difficult 8,000-meter course with an impressive time of 23:26:00.
Parrott was happy with the team’s performance, but sees better things to come.
“It was a tough course,” she confessed. “Our times really didn’t show the effort we put out. I think the fact that we took home most of the top-10 finishes shows what we are capable of. It was a good start. We’re looking forward to the rest of the season”
While many on the men’s team played it safe at West Point, sitting senior captains Geoff Van Fleet and Dan Dombroski, the same can’t be said for sophomore Bruce Hyde.
Young Talent
Hyde finished fourth in the race with a time of 26:29:00, but was only steps behind the second- and third-place finishers.
Hyde is beginning to establish himself as one of the team’s top runners.
When everyone returns to full strength, the team expects bigger and better things.
Both the men’s and women’s team will have an extra week of preparation before returning to action on Sept. 28 at the Iona Meet of Champions.
Archived article by Adam Matthews