By Nick Rosa
The Men’s cross country team took first place for the CCSU mini-meet at Stanley Quarter Park on Friday afternoon, finishing with a low score of 27. While the men finished at the top, the women took third place in the six team field with a final score of 63.
Junior Craig Hunt lead the Blue Devils’ squad, finishing second overall, while the team placed five runners in the top nine. Sophomore Elizabeth Eberhardt placed fifth overall, leading the group of three Blue Devils that finished in the top 10.
At regular meets, the course is usually an 8K race for the men and a 5K for the women. However, this “mini-meet” was a tune up for next week’s Northeast Conference Championship at Monmouth University, so the men ran a slightly shorter 5K, while the women ran a 3K.
Last year, Hunt set the 5K course record with a time of 14:55. This year he beat that record, running two seconds faster at 14:53, but it was his teammate, Alex Wallace, who won the meet in a time of 14:46, setting the new 5K course record.
Other Blue Devils behind Hunt included senior Sam Alexander, who finished right behind Hunt in third place, while senior Jeremy Schmid finished behind Alexander with a sixth place finish. Junior John Krell placed seventh, and sophomore Andrew Hill rounded out the top 10 with a ninth place finish.
Alexander came across in a time of 15:03, Schmid in a time of 15:23, Krell in 15:36, and Hill with a time of 15:37.
Also running for the Blue Devils were senior Ben Lazarus and freshman Andrew Pullaro, who finished in 11 and 14 respectively. Lazarus crossed in a time of 15:46 and Pullaro in a time of 15:50.
The CCSU men’s team finished 46 points in front of the second place team, Providence, who had a score of 73, while Bryant took third with 101 points.
The women finished third overall with 63 points, while Quinnipiac took second place with 49 points. Providence dominated in the women’s field, finishing with a twelve point cushion at 37 points.
Eberhardt was the first Blue Devil to cross the line in fifth place, while senior Alasia Griebel finished right behind Eberhardt in sixth by only three seconds. Eberhardt ran a 10:27 while Griebel ran a 10:30.
Senior Amanda Asaro also placed in the top 10, finishing in ninth with a time of 10:42. Sophomore Krisztina Dearborn finished 15th with a time of 10:52, while sophomore Megan MacBryde finished off the team score with 28 place and a time of 11:24.
Seniors Sara Larkin and Katrina Ainsworth also competed and finished with times of 11:36 and 12:48.
Providence delivered the knockout with Shelby Greany and Emily Sission finishing first and second overall, both finishing in a fast time of 10:06, breaking the course record set by their teammate last year, Mary-Katie Champagne.
Both teams look strong heading into next week’s NEC Championships at Monmouth. The men are two-time defending champions and looking to three-peat going into this year’s tournament and are looking strong and experienced in preparation for next week’s meet. The women will be looking to improve on last year’s finish of fifth place.