The Plattsburgh State cross country team continued their great season with another stellar performance at the Ronald C. Hoffman Invitational.
The women’s team finished second place out of five teams, and the men’s team finished second out of six teams.
Coach Andrew Krug once again had nothing but good things to say.
“I was extremely happy with our performances the other day,” Krug said. “We beat Le Moyne who are a Division II team, and Clarkson and Potsdam were very good too.”
Ethan Vinson and Lauren Perschetz continued their dominance for the Cards, both of them the top finishers for the men and women again last Saturday.
Perschetz finished third overall in her race, while Vinson finished sixth overall in his race.
Their stellar performances have not gone unnoticed by their coach, who has high expectations.
“I expect them to keep this going through the rest of the season,” Krug said. “I expect them to get faster, and improve as we go through the rest of the season.”
With freshmen Elysha O’Connell and Kristina Watrobski both finishing with great times after Perschetz on the women’s side, it’s easy to see that depth is propelling this team to success.
“Depth is the most important part of our success,” Krug said. “We’ve been improving and building upon that depth over the last couple years, and it’s starting to stand out now.”
It certainly is standing out and getting results.
News came out this week that the women’s team had been ranked 10th overall in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) NCAA Division III Women’s Cross Country Atlantic Regional Rankings.
On the men’s side, sophomore Jerigho Gadway had another strong showing, finishing 9th overall and as the 2nd finisher for the PSUC behind Vinson.
Both the men and women had to adjust to longer races. The men’s race was eight kilometers compared to six in its last race, while the women went from five to six.
That did not seem to faze them, though.
“I didn’t find too much of a difference because I’m a distance runner,” O’Connell said.
Gadway had similar thoughts.
“I was fine, I’m more of a ten-k (kilometer) runner,” Gadway said. “The eight-k (kilometer), I had no problem with.
Krug was quite happy with how his team dealt with longer races.
“My key word for them this past weekend was patience, and we showed some good patience off the starting line,” Krug said. “That helped us with our team placing and our individual performances.
All of this success for the Cards is bringing a sense of fun along with it.”
“It’s been really fun,” O’Connell said. “I’m excited to keep going for the rest of the season.”
Gadway has been enjoying this year’s team’s success as well.
“I’m very happy with the team. We’re doing a lot better than last year,” Gadway said. “I’m very confident, and the team is very confident.”
PSUC will look to use that confidence to continue their successful season next weekend in Saratoga.
“The women are going to be racing a five-k (kilometer), so it’ll be a little bit shorter and faster for them,” Krug said. “The men will race an eight-k (kilometer) so that’ll be another chance to improve times.”
Both Gadway and O’Connell are looking to continue their good personal seasons as well.
“I’m just gonna try to keep hydrated and stay focused,” Gadway said.
“I’m just going to try and do the same thing I did last week and race well,” O’Connell said.
The Cards’ next meet will be the Saratoga Invitational hosted by the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on Saturday, Oct. 1.
“We’ll be trying to beat as many teams as possible at this next meet,” Krug said. “RPI is nationally and regionally ranked on both the men’s and women’s sides, but from there it’s pretty open. We could end up being the top men’s and women’s teams there, so we’re pretty excited going into this weekend.”
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