By Zack Downing, Staff Writer
Both the women’s and men’s Corsairs cross-country teams headed up to Boston on Saturday to compete in the 49th annual Codfish Bowl Cross Country Meet in Franklin Park.
Despite the rainy, windy conditions from the edge of Hurricane Jose, the competitors powered through and put up impressive times.
UMass Dartmouth had six men in for the race out of 119 total, and even in small numbers they made a big impact in the field.
The top contender for the Corsairs was Jason Karakaedos, who ran the 8k in a time of 27:37. Directly behind him was his teammate Bruno Pires, in 27:41. They finished 16th and 17th place, respectively, only coming a minute behind the overall winner of the race.
First year runner Travis Dolcine finished 46th with a time of 29:31, faster than his 8k at the UMass Dartmouth Invitational last week.
Brandon DeSilva finished next for the Corsairs, barely missing the half hour mark with a time of 30:18. He came across the line 65th. The next two runners, Timothy Post and Tyree Gorham, finished 78th and 93rd respectively.
Out of ten teams, the Corsairs men’s team finished 7th overall in points gained from their positions. Stonehill College took the top spot on the men’s side, edging out Merrimack.
The women’s side had 184 racers in the meet, far more than the men. Their race was only a 5k, and as a result the winner of the race finished in only 19 minutes flat.
No women’s Corsair finished the race until 55th place, when sophomore Jessica O’Reilly crossed the line in 21:32. However, she was only two and a half minutes behind the winner; it was a dense crowd coming across the line near the 20 minute mark.
The next Corsair to burst through the rain and wind over the finish line was Victoria Spitaels only 15 seconds later in 58th place. After that came first year runner Taylor Walsh, in 69th position.
Kirstie Harnden placed 84th on the day with a time of 22:32. Right after her ran Hannah Landry in 86th, six seconds later. Christina Ruiz finished 104th place in 23:11.
There was a large gap in between Corsair runners, until Stephanie Brogdon crossed the line in 163rd place with a 26:24. The last two came as a pair, Amber Cyr in 178th and Melissa Goodwin in 179th.
Stonehill College again took the top spot among the schools competing in the Codfish Bowl, this time placing above Westfield State. UMass Dartmouth finished in 10th place out of the 12 on the women’s side.
The next track meet for UMass Dartmouth will take place at Stanley Park in Westfield, Mass., as part of the James Early Invitational on Saturday, October 7.
There won’t be any more home track meets for the Corsairs, so if you want to root for your team, come out to Westfield on October 7 to support the runners!