Women & Men’s Cross Country Place In Top Three In Home Invitational

Ryan Jones, Sports Editor

Central Connecticut cross country stuck to the plan Saturday, defending their home course at the Ted Owen Invitational and securing top three finishes on both the women and men’s sides.

The women’s team had a successful day thanks to some familiar faces, finishing in second overall. Senior Angie Rafter, who won gold in last year’s Ted Owen Invitational, again took home a first place finish in the 5K with a time of 18:06. Fellow senior Megan Brawner followed shortly behind Rafter with a 18:32 time good for a sixth place finish. At last year’s Ted Owen Invitational, Rafter and Brawner were the top two finishers in the 5K.

On her first place finish, Rafter was happy, but not content yet and has her eyes set on Northeast Conference play.

“It was really nice, but NEC’s is what really matters,” Rafter said. “We showed up with second place and that’s all we can ask of ourselves.”

Rafter’s teammate Brawner had similar sentiments, proclaiming it a “solid day” for the team, but including that there’s still “a lot of work to be done, so we’re not satisfied by any means. It’s a conference preview meet and it’s a confidence booster racing on the home course and knowing we’re beating some of our rivals this early on.”

The men’s side also gutted out an impressive day on the course, finishing third among 19 teams. Last year, the Blue Devils finished first out of seven teams competing.

Senior Roberto Piotto, who finished first overall in the Marist College Invitational earlier this season, again led the Blue Devils Saturday. He finished sixth overall in the 8K with a 26:31 time.

Likewise to the women’s side, another senior finished second for the Blue Devils for the men, as Richard Grudzwick finished 14th with a 27:06 time.

Elias Field and Eddie Nicholas, both freshmen, trailed directly behind Grudzwick for the 15th and 16th finishes.

“Our freshmen did an excellent job of running in a pack,” head coach Eric Blake said after the meet. “That’s rare to see freshmen doing that, so that’s good to see.”

The Blue Devils will travel to Boston next week to take place in the New England Championships. According to Blake, a focal point of practice over the next week will be “really sticking with your teammate, realizing that they’re there to help you and you help them. If we can do that, we’ll be tighter as a team.”

Rafter and the rest of the Blue Devils are “excited for the rest of the season for sure. Everybody gave what they could today,” Rafter said. “We’ve done so many workouts here, so I think we were all confident on the course today.”