Waterford, CT — The State University of New York at New Paltz men's and women's cross country teams raced in the Connecticut College Invitational Saturday, finishing 17th and 19th out of 26 teams, respectively.

Williams College won three of the four races on the day, only falling behind MIT's 15 and 61 in the men's 8K white race. SUNY New Paltz scored 538 in the men's blue race, just two points better than Springfield, to finish 17th, but well in front of Oneonta (who finished 20th with 569), the only SUNYAC rival in the race. The women's side scored 532 to finish just behind Springfield in 19th place, but also finished with 127 less points than 22nd place Oneonta.

Because the Hawks did not race at least five members in the white races, it did not score as a team in either race.

"I have been focusing more on individual performances, and today we had seven personal bests and one course personal record," said SUNY New Paltz coach Aislinn Ryan. "We have many freshman and first time college competitors stepping up onto our top seven. I am proud of how they are handling that responsibility individually and I think this experience will expedite their growth as they continue in the program."

According to Ryan, their team battled illness throughout the meets and it was a factor for multiple runners. 

"It is a very intimidating prospect to stand on a starting line with a long race of challenges ahead knowing that you have been under the weather," they said. "They all handled themselves well."

In the men's blue race, senior Jake Meyers finished first for SUNY New Paltz and an impressive 37th overall with a time of 25 minutes, 52.6 seconds, just two tenths of a second behind Williams' Nate Lentz. His time was 46 seconds better than his previous time at the Waterford course. Senior Trey Hotaling crossed the line next for the Hawks with a personal best 26 minutes, 42.8 seconds to place 80th overall, while graduate student Colin Battersby (27:46.1) finished 115th. Freshmen Vincent Mandraccia (30:09.0) and Luke Hoyt (30:45.8) — the latter switching with senior Chris D'Antonio for the white race — finished 168th and 170th to round out the scoring five for the Hawks.

"Chris is making his way back from an ankle break that has made his training choppy," Ryan said. "I held Luke out of the last race to freshen him back up for the remainder of a long freshman season as a dual athlete. I decided to switch Luke and Chris to see what Luke could do under pressure."

Juniors Brian Casey and Carlos Vasquez remained out for the men's side for SUNY New Paltz.

After resting the Mount Saint Mary Invitational, junior Kate Cochran (23:20.10) finished first for New Paltz and 42nd overall in the Caroline Grape '22 Memorial Blue Race. Her time was seven seconds better than her previous personal best. Senior Clara Flores-Reininger finished second for SUNY New Paltz and 52nd overall with a time of 23 minutes, 37 seconds. Freshman Marcella Candlin (25:08.8), sophomore Ginny Clifford (27:05.8) and freshman Jazmyne Daily-Simpson (28:50.5) finished 123rd, 174th, and 188th, respectively, to round out the finishers for SUNY New Paltz in the race. Candlin and Daily-Simpson's times were personal bests.

"Jake, Kate and Clara all have a chance at first or second All-SUNYAC team," Ryan said of their top three runners on the day. "The main challenge in these next two weeks is getting them to the starting line believing they can do that."

Freshman Allison English did not finish.

In the men's 8K white race, Senior Chris D'Antonio (30:27.5) and sophomore Jimmy Curley (30:29.2) finished back to back with 170th and 171st place finishes, respectively. Graduate student Reed Williams finished 207th with a time of 32 minutes, 8.9 seconds. Sophomore Erin Downs (29:49.5) and freshman Ceren Cebeci (30:04.9) also finished back to back with personal record times in the women's 6K white race with 127th and 128th place finishes, respectively. Freshman Cat Walker did not finish the race.

The Connecticut College Invite was the final regular season meet for the Hawks. It will have its first week off from competitive action next week, as its next race will be the SUNYAC Championships in Cortland, NY. The start times are to be announced.

"We are going to have some tough workouts in this two week span that will push their anaerobic strength and speed," Ryan said on the team's practice plan for the next two weeks. "Some of their personal goals are not being reached in races, so I am looking to push the envelope in these workouts to set them up further to reach their high goals."

To view the full results from the 2021 Connecticut College Invitational, click here.

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