As summer comes to a close, the cross country teams are gearing up for their seasons. Both the men and women had solid campaigns last year. The men finished seventh out of 35 schools at the Northeast Regional Championships. The Red will look to build on this in its upcoming season.
On Sept. 3, Cornell teams had its first meet off the season at the Harry Lang Invitational in Hamilton, New York. At the meet, Cornell competed against Colgate, Binghamton, Buffalo and Syracuse. The men’s race was 6,400 meters and the women’s race was 4,800 meters.
The men’s team finished in third, with freshman James Glebocki leading the way for the Red with an 11th place finish. Freshmen Tyler Canaday and Kamran Murray ended in 18th and 19th place, clocking in at 21:12.3 and 21:12.5, respectively. Sophomore Jake Gelfand was right behind them in 22nd place with a time of 21:18.0. Rounding up the race were sophomore Andy O’Brian in 25th, freshman Zachary Winnicki in 26th and freshman Ryan Johnson in 27th.
The Red ended with 82 points, falling short of Syracuse (18) and Buffalo (38). Cornell finished ahead of Binghamton (130) and Colgate (133).
On the women’s side, the Red had a solid showing, finishing in second place. The Orange was dominant in this race, earning the best possible score of 15 points. The battle for second place was fierce between Cornell and Buffalo. Freshman Mairead Clas crossed the finish line first for the Red in 13th, and freshman Katja Jackson finishing right behind her in 14th.
The next swarm of Cornell runners came in soon after, as senior Bella DiPalermo, junior Avery Brull and freshman Ava Black finished in consecutive places. Freshman Jennalee Dunn and freshman Brooke Hirsch rounded out the top seven.
In this battle, every point counted. Cornell finished with 69 points, edging out the Bulls by a single point. The Red’s triumph over Buffalo was a team effort. The difference in the meet came down to pushers Dunn and Hirsch finishing in front of the Bulls’ fifth runner, freshman Bronagh Cassidy. Had Cassidy finished in front of them, Cornell would have fallen short.
Head coach Mike Henderson decided to primarily race underclassmen for this meet, citing the “shorter racing distance” which made it a “perfect transition meet.” Additionally, he said the smaller size of the meet “allowed [the younger runners] to ease into the season and focus on pack running.”
Despite the lack of collegiate racing experience from many of Cornell’s runners, Henderson was very pleased with how they performed and is optimistic for the rest of the season. “Our team did a great job… working together to start the season,” Henderson said.
The men’s and women’s teams have their next race on Saturday, Sept. 10, at the Fordham Fiasco in Van Cortlandt Park.