The cross country team continued its season this past Saturday, when it competed against six schools at the Fordham Fiasco meet. The men’s team raced 8,000 meters and the women’s team raced 5,000 meters. This race was longer than the team’s previous contest at Harry Lang last week.
“It affects us in our mindset and how we approach [the race], so it definitely becomes a little bit more tactical and strategic,” said head coach Mike Henderson.
The men’s race was dominated by Temple and Cornell. With the first nine finishers hailing from Temple, the Owls finished the meet with a perfect 15 points. The Red was right on its tail, as sophomores Teddy O’Kane and Brady Shute came in tenth and eleventh place, leading the Red. They finished with times of 27:02.2 and 27:02.6, respectively.
Sophomore Jake Gelfand and freshman Tyler Canaday led the next group of runners, tying with a time of 27:22.5. Freshman Kamran Murray was a split second behind them, clocking in at 27:22.6. Sophomores Jack Lenz and Zachary Winnicki rounded out Cornell’s top seven. The Red finished in second place with 50 points. Fordham came in third with 98 points, Seton Hall came in fourth, followed by Mansfield, St. Joseph’s, and Fairleigh Dickinson.
Rather than racing purely independently, the team has worked on crossing the finish line in packs, something they have focused on during practice.
“You’re only as good as your fifth runner, so we really want to learn to develop our skills of helping each other through the race…being able to get through the hard parts of the course with people that can support you makes a difference as you’re trying to run your best,” Henderson said.
The women’s team also was the runner-up in its race. Senior Rebecca Hasser finished in second place with a 5k time of 19:13.9. Junior Izzy MacFarlane came in third place, less than a second behind Hasser. Senior Katy Storti was the next finisher for the team, coming in fifth place. Soon after, Cornell’s next pack crossed the finish line — sophomore Gwen Parks, senior Olivia Curran and sophomore Augustine Haquet — taking eleventh through thirteenth. Freshman Mairead Clas rounded out the team with a time of 19:59.3.
Temple won the race with 28 points, with the Red finishing right behind it with 33 points. Fordham came away with the bronze with 84 points, followed by Seton Hall, Mansfield, St. Joseph’s and Fairleigh Dickinson.
While the men only had a combined nine freshmen and sophomores race, the women had 17 runners, ranging from freshmen to seniors. The difference in age distribution between the two teams came down to experience running the course.
“The younger guys needed more focus on learning this course. A lot of our older guys have seen it, but not a lot of our older women have seen it,” Henderson said.
The team continues its season on Sept. 24, when it competes at the Lock Haven Invitational in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania.