By Staff Writer James Mellen III.
On October 6, the men and women of UMass Dartmouth’s cross country team competed in the Westfield State James Earley Invitational in Westfield Mass. The day was a beautiful day for competing in the hunt, with a high of 63 degrees and a low of 51 degrees (two degrees below historic high and one degree below historic low).
The men’s team competed in an eight kilometer race on Saturday. The team added one more meet to a stellar season, placing first in the Fitchburg State Jim Sheehan Memorial Invitational on September first, then third in the Codfish Bowl Invitational on September 22nd. The team placed second on Saturday, behind only Trinity college, with an average 8k time of 26:34.28. 27.
Sophomore Bruno Pires (New Bedford, Mass.) lead the pack running an eight kilometers at 25:26.99, only 18 seconds behind Plymouth State’s first place competitor, and Bruno’s bitter rival, Sam Brunnette. Senior Jason Karakaedos (Peabody, Mass.) finished fourth in the meet individually and second in the UMass Dartmouth pack with a time of 25:51.70.
Freshman Carlos Rivera (Lowell, Mass.) added an 11th place performance of 26:26.40 to the score of the Corsairs on Saturday. Freshmen Jose LeClerc-Rodriguez (Chelsea, Mass.) and Steve Stromski (Melrose, Mass.) scored 33rd and 34th respectively placing finishing times of 27:32.98 and 27:33.30. Overall the team finished with a low score of only 84, to secure them second place.
The women’s team ran a five kilometer race at the meet. While individual runners stood out with winning times, the female corsairs placed 17th in the final standing of the meet.
Smith college finished first in the meet with a score of 92 points, followed by Trinity college with a score of 118 points, and in third was Mount Holyoke with a score of 131 points.
Junior Jessica O’Reilly (Millis, Mass.) ran hard to achieve her third top seven performance of the year, as she ran Westfield’s five kilometer course in 18:52.57. Placing sixth in a meet of over two hundred competitors.
Sophomore Taylor Walsh (Groveland, Mass.) was next in line for the blue and gold landing in at 46th place with a time of 20:14.15. Junior Victoria Spitaels (West Newton, Mass.) was the third Corsair in line, finishing in 71st place with a time of 20:51.14.
Freshman Jackie Broderick (Wilmington, Mass.) and senior Kirstie Harnden (Fitchburg, Mass.) were the fourth and fifth members of UMass Dartmouth’s women’s cross country team, scoring with respective 123rd and 129th place times of 22:35.23 and 22:47.37.
On Saturday October 13th the men’s and women’s teams are scheduled to compete in Waterford Connecticut in the Connecticut College Invitation in Harkness Park. The women’s team will step off at 11 and the men’s at noon.
PHOTO COURTESY: CORSAIR ATHLETICS