The men and women’s cross country teams both recorded a sixth place finish at the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Championships in Geneseo on Saturday, Oct. 29.
The men finished with 153 points, falling just short of a fifth-place finish behind SUNY Cortland (148) by five points, while the women also finished with 148 points in the championships.
“I was a little disappointed with the guys because I felt that they ran too aggressively early on and it cost them later on in the race,” Hawks head coach Michael Trunkes said. “On the women’s side, I was pleased with their performances overall. We have a very competitive conference and a young team, so when you look at how our runners performed compared to previous meets, you can’t be disappointed.”
The men could not match their fifth-place finish from last year, but had some notable performances from their runners.
Fourth-year runner Galo Vasquez finished 15th out of 114 runners in the eight-kilometer course with a time of 25:28.3, topping his time of 26:01.5 from last season. Third-year runner Stephen Smith finished with a time of 26:59.4, which landed two Hawk runners in the top 35.
For the women, they improved on last year’s seventh-place finish. Fourth-year Rebecca Verrone placed 14th overall in the six-kilometer course in 22:34.1, while first-year Emily Cavanagh finished with a time of 22:35.2 for 15th overall.
With their personal bests, Verrone and Cavanagh were named to the All-SUNYAC Third Team and they both had the program’s fourth and fifth best finishes in the six-kilometer race in its respective history.
SUNY Geneseo won the tournament for both the men and women’s teams. The Knights scored 23 points on the men’s side for their second straight championship title and 15th overall, and 28 points on the women’s side for their second title in a row and 16th overall.
New Paltz will have two weeks off before they participate in the NCAA Div. III Atlantic Regional Championships at Rowan College on Saturday, Nov. 12.
Last season, the men finished 23rd in the regional tournament out of 41 teams and the women finished 22nd out of 41 teams.
Trunkes reported that the runners are looking healthy after some runners sustained injuries over the final two to three weeks of the season.
“Everyone looks good, they’re energized and training consistently,” he said. “The runners are still on a high and are ready to go for another few weeks. The regional meet is big for us and it’s always an important place for us to perform well so we can see how we match up against the teams in the region.”
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Top Hawks Finishers
• Fourth-year Galo Vasquez finished 15th our of 114 runners in the eight-kilometer course with a time of 25:28.3, topping his time of 26:01.5 from last season
• Third-year runner Stephen Smith finished with a time of 26:59.4, which landed two hawk runners in the Top 35
• Fourth-year Rebecca Verrone and First-year Emily Cavanagh were named to the All-SUNYAC Third Team