By CAMDEN MALONE
Contributing Writer
On Saturday morning, both the Saint Rose Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams began their season with the Siena Invitational at The Crossings of Colonie. Coming off a strong 2018 fall season, the women hold no less of expectations for themselves on their new campaign. The men’s squad, captained by Nick Lee and Evan Ireland, joined by many new faces, expect to be serious competitors late in the season. Both teams did not disappoint, delivering many promising performances across the board.
The sky was clear, spikes laced up, and race faces put on. As an Invitational at large however, most of the times put up during both the men’s 8K and women’s 5K races were slower than anticipated. This can be attributed to the difficulty of the course, and simply the fact that it is the first competitive run of the season for many teams. The competition included Siena, of course, Univeristy at Albany, Rider, Marist, and Union (N.Y.). With 18:03 as the winning 5K time on the womens’ end, senior captain Lauren Rabideau ran a 20:42, finishing as the top female for Saint Rose. Although not her best performance from a career standpoint, Lauren called it “a good start to the season.” Already looking forward, she said “We’ll keep working harder and improve lots this season gearing up for Regionals.” Sophomore Hannah Gallagher added, “It was a tough day but we got through it together” With great optimism and determination to get stronger and faster as a team, its for certain that the woman’s side will see plenty of success this season. As for the Men’s 8k, the top finisher’s time was 25:53. Team captain Evan Ireland had a respectable debut of his senior season, leading finisher for the Saint Rose guys with a time of 27:53. His description of the day went as follows, “Great start to the season. It was a tough course but we can only keep moving forward from here. Time to improve and excel for regionals.” Evan expects his times to drop dramatically as the season progresses. Teammate and sophomore Jonathan Hackshaw made his collegiate cross country debut with a time of 30:55. The men’s team has been battling many injuries early in this season, but once healthy, will be a strong unit and worthy of serious contention in later competition.
All in all, the race Saturday was a great opportunity for the incoming freshman to dip their toe in the water and pick up experience in either the 5K or 8K. As for the veteran runners, it is merely a warm-up for hitting their greatest potential later down the road this fall. In the final results of the day, the Golden Knights scored a team total of 153 for the women and 169 for the men. With plenty of newcomers on both sides and adversity to overcome by injuries, it will be important to work hard together and remain focused as a team. Both the men and women will be racing next Sept. 21 in North Dartmouth, MA for the UMass Dartmouth Invitational.
The Saint Rose Cross Country teams are coached by Head Coach Ray Putnam, and now full-time Assistant Coach Soroya Hudson.
Camden Malone is a member of the men’s cross country team
