Williamstown, MA — The State University of New York at New Paltz cross country men's and women's teams placed eighth and ninth among 10 and 12 teams, respectively, at the Purple Valley Classic at the Mount Greylock High School Saturday.

It was the first of many races coached for newly hired assistant coach Morgan Meaney, who joins SUNY New Paltz head coach Aislinn Ryan as the fourth assistant coach in their three year tenure. Ryan said that she was "a clear energy shift" for them having an extra resource on the course.

Hosting Williams College took first place in both the men's 8K and women's 6K races with scores of 29 and 52, respectively. The Hawks 229 on the men's side placed eighth, behind the Ephs, MIT, Middlebury, WPI, Tufts, Hamilton and Springfield, and ahead of Fitchburg State and Framingham State. The Hawks scored 249 points on the women's side, placing them behind Williams, MIT, Tufts, Middlebury, WPI, Smith, Mount Holyoke and Hamilton, and ahead of Springfield, Fitchburg and Framingham.

"We have a very young and inexperienced team, but everyone ran a smart race for themself," Ryan said. "Both races went out extremely fast and slowed down considerably."

For the fourth race in a row, senior Jake Meyers crossed the finish line first — 22nd overall — for SUNY New Paltz. Despite the change of course which added more challenging hills, his time of 27 minutes, 22.6 seconds was 11 seconds better than the time Matt Whitworth '20 set at the 2019 Purple Valley Classic. Graduate student Colin Battersby (28:53.7) and senior Trey Hotaling (29:48.7) finished 73rd and 94th overall, respectively, while freshmen Luke Hoyt (31:42.5) and Vincent Mandraccia (31:49.1) crossed at 124th and 127th, respectively, to round out the scoring five for the Hawks. 

Junior Kate Cochran finished first for the Hawks — and 22nd overall — for the first time in a women's 6K race in her career. Her time of 24 minutes, 48.2 seconds was better than the time that placed her second at the New Paltz Invitational last Friday. Senior Clara Flores-Reininger (24:51.6) finished three seconds behind Cochran at 24th. Freshman Marcella Candlin had a personal best day time wise with a time for 27 minutes, 12.9 seconds to place third for the Hawks — 88th overall. Sophomore Ginny Clifford and freshman Allison English completed the scoring five for SUNY New Paltz with 123rd and 137th finishes, respectively.

"We had many Hawks negative split, and that skill is something that will give us an edge as we gain more experience as a team over the years and fill in the gaps between racers with recruits who will join us in the future," Ryan said. "This is one more race effort under our belts," they continued. "It was a very competitive race and we were able to face some of the best in the country and practice our racing tactics in a talented field."

SUNY New Paltz is back in action next Saturday for the SUNY Geneseo Mike Woods Invitational. The women's meet starts at 11 a.m while the men's race begins at 12 p.m.

To view the full results from the 2021 Purple Valley Classic:
click here for women's results or click here for men's results.

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