The men’s cross country squad shares a moment together at Connecticut Saturday, Oct. 14.
By Rebekah Riley
The SUNYAC Championships are within reach for the Plattsburgh Cardinals cross country team. The men’s and women’s teams competed at the Connecticut College Invitational in New London Connecticut Oct. 14. The men’s blue team placed 19th with a total time of 2:12:13.10, average time of 26:26.62 and had 507 points. The women’s blue team placed 22nd, with a total time of 2:01:41.60, and an average time of 24:20.32 and a total of 622 points. The men’s white team received a DNF, the women’s white team placed 16th overall with a total time of 2:23:57.50, and an average time of 28:47.50, receiving 457 points.
For the men’s blue 8k team, first-year Graham Richard placed 54th (25:41.6, 53 points); junior Noah Bonesteel placed 105th (26:20.3, 98 points); sophomore Erik Kucera placed 122nd (26:38.3, 113 points); junior Justin Kumrow placed 129th (26:42.0, 118 points); senior Jeremy Gundrum placed 138th (26:50.9, 125 points); junior Peter Basile placed 175th (27:56.5, 153 points); first-year Zander Brown placed 186th (28:34.4, 163 points); and junior Evan Howe placed 198th (29:41.6, 0 points).
For the women’s blue 6k team, sophomore Marrisa Colvin placed 85th (23:22.1, 82 points); junior Sarah Smith placed 142nd (24:16.0, 124 points); first-year Anya Sloth placed 150th (24:25.0, 131 points); first-year Kayla Grant placed 159th (24:43.7, 139 points); first-year Lillian Moran placed 166th (24:54.8 , 146 points); sophomore Virginia Lucchetti placed 174th 25:05.5, 153 points); sophomore Jayelee Southwell placed 187th (25:40.4, 166 points); and first-year Sophia Gambino placed 206th (28:37.2, 0 points).
For the women’s blue 6k team, sophomore Marrisa Colvin placed 85th (23:22.1, 82 points); junior Sarah Smith placed 142nd (24:16.0, 124 points); first-year Anya Sloth placed 150th (24:25.0, 131 points); first-year Kayla Grant placed 159th (24:43.7, 139 points); first-year Lillian Moran placed 166th (24:54.8 , 146 points); sophomore Virginia Lucchetti placed 174th 25:05.5, 153 points); sophomore Jayelee Southwell placed 187th (25:40.4, 166 points); and first-year Sophia Gambino placed 206th (28:37.2, 0 points).
For the men’s 8k white team, first-year Nathan Alexander placed 122nd (29:16.3, 0 points); sophomore Lukas McIntosh placed 135th 30:27.6, 0 points); junior Sean Grady placed 139th (30:35.7, 0 points); and first-year Matthias Lauvau placed 151st (31.16.4, 0 points).
For the women’s white 6k team senior Natalia Castro placed 106th (26:30.0, 80 points); first-year Julia Robinson placed 146th (28:46.7, 92 points); first-year Kailyn Ginter placed 149th (29:05.8, 93 points); sophomore Grace Boyle placed 150th (29:06.8, 94 points); and sophomore Jodie May placed 157th (30:28.2, 98 points).
Head Coach Jordyn Naylon said she is excited for the SUNYAC Championships for both the men’s and women’s team on the tail of impressive performances in Connecticut.
“I think it was great and we had the mindset to go into this meet. I think on the men’s side I know we’re getting one of our top guys back from an injury, on the women’s side we haven’t been a competitive team last year, but now we are way up there and we’re way better than we think we are,” Naylon said.
This race was also a big one for the runners, as lots of them got new personal records.
Richard got a personal record by 20 seconds, Gundrum had about 20-second PR, Brown had a 52-second PR, McIntosh had a 1:14 PR, Alexander had a 1:49 PR, Moran had a 52-second PR, Grant had a 57-second PR, Southwell had a 39-second PR and Robinson had a 36-second PR.
Colvin was named SUNYAC Women’s Cross Country Athlete of the Week Oct. 10. Colvin is the first Plattsburgh female runner to receive this since Sept. 2017. She said it was a surprise and she was surprised to receive it.
“I didn’t know I was going to get it, so I was really surprised some of our top dogs that definitely helped motivate me to finish the season. It can be hard sometimes,” Colvin said.
This year Colvin has a chance to make up for time lost last year when she was out injured, especially with the championships coming up.
“I’m really excited, because last year I was pretty injured for most of the season, so I feel more confident and ready this year. I hopefully will run a better time than last year,” Colvin said.
Richard was named SUNYAC Men’s Cross Country Athlete of the Week Oct. 10. He is the first Plattsburgh men’s cross country runner to receive this since Sept. 2017.
“Amazing. I’m so happy it’s only my freshman year, and to be called athlete of the week, it is amazing,” Richard said.
Richard has lots of goals he hopes to achieve in his years ahead.
“I have lots of time, but my main goal, I just want to continue to be a key part of the team. I want to get to know the team better. Obviously, I’m getting to know them better every day, but I want to keep PR-ing and I want to start winning some races, that’d be fun,” Richard said.
Looking ahead, Plattsburgh will be competing in the SUNYAC Championships in Oneonta, New York Oct. 28.
