On Oct. 12, both the State University of New York (SUNY) at New Paltz men’s and women’s cross country teams traveled to St. Lawrence University for the Ronald C. Hoffman Invitational/Pre-Atlantic Regional.
The Pre-Atlantic Regional for both teams was a competition between Ithaca College, St. Lawrence University, SUNY Oneonta, Cortland, Plattsburgh, Oswego and Brockport, University of Rochester and United States Merchant Marine Academy, to name a few.
The men’s team finished 10th of the 21 teams in the 8K race, with fourth-year Matt Whitworth making the best time for New Paltz at 26:05.4, but coming in 14th overall. Second-years Conor Van Riper, Jake Meyers and Chris D’Antonio followed across the finish line at 26:10.4, 27:06.2 and 28:24.4, for second, third and fourth place for the team, but 21st, 61st and 105th for the invitational. First-year Ryan Carrick followed behind D’Antonio only by about four seconds at 28:28.0, earning 108th place. Third-year Ryan Tso and second-year Hans Hilson-Schneider finished in sixth and seventh place for New Paltz within seconds of each other at 28:49.6 and 28:51.8, taking 117th and 120th place overall.
D’Antonio and Hilson-Schneider both hit their best personal times, as both broke 29 minutes for the first time in their careers.
The women’s team took fifth place out of 20 teams in the 6K race. Fourth-year Emily Cavanagh came in first for New Paltz but third overall with a time of 22:41.1. Second for the girls was third-year Cassandra Williams who finished with a time of 23:12.1 and seventh overall. Second-year Clara Flores-Reininger finished with a time of 23:31.7, third for the Hawks but 13th overall. Fourth-year Vanessa Morgan (24:35.5), first-year Ripley Insalaco (24:46.0), third-year Riley Loughlin (25:53.0) and third-year Sophie Hermann (26:57.5) all finished in fourth through seventh place for New Paltz, but 48th, 54th, 102nd and 125th for the invitational.
Although coming in third, Cavanagh ran alongside her Plattsburgh State Rival, third-year Jasmine Roberts, for most of the race, but Roberts took the lead with a time of 22:37.0 and finished second. Morgan and Loughlin both performed season-best times, while Hermann earned a personal record by improving her time by almost a minute.
The New Paltz men’s and women’s cross country teams will return on Saturday, Oct. 19 at 11 a.m. for the Connecticut College Invitational, their last race before the SUNY Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Championships begin on Nov. 2.
