MILTON, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz played host Friday evening for the New Paltz Invitational with the women and the men both finishing first against seven and 11 total teams respectively. The meet was held a short distance from campus at the Hudson Valley Sportsdome.
Freshman Lillian Stephenson led the women placing third overall with a time of 26 minutes, 54.5 seconds in her first ever 6K race.
"Going in I had a lot of support from my teammates and my team and everyone," Stephenson said. "I was also excited, because the last time I was here I was running a track meet during COVID inside. So, coming back here was so surreal finally being able to kind of race in a world where you're not worrying about what's happening after tomorrow. That was really excited coming back here and running really strong out on these beautiful grounds."
Marcella Candlin followed Stephenson in fourth with a time of 27:04.1 while also earning a spot in the top five. Emily Gonzalez placed sixth, while Allison English and Crystal Rustami rounded out the scoring five in sixth and eighth place(s) respectively.
Evan Labelle was the fastest Hawk on the men's side, as the freshman clocked in at 28:40.3 for first overall in his first 8K race. Hans Hilson-Schneider placed third securing a spot in the top-5 with a time of 29:05.3. He was followed by Vincent Mandraccia (sixth), Gavin Bowers (eighth) and Brian Casey (tenth).
"First 8K of the season. It was definitely pretty hard on my body, my legs were hurting pretty bad and cramping up real good two miles in, but it felt good to win definitely," LaBelle said. "The first year, college cross country, it was nice to get a win definitely. Not a crazy competitive meet today, but it was a good confidence booster regardless. Slow course, but it was still a decent time so definitely boosted my confidence a bit."
To view the full results, click here.
The Hawks will be back in action on Saturday September 24 at the Airfield Invitational hosted by SUNY Oneonta in Oneonta, NY.
Post-Race Interivews Featuring Evan LaBelle and Lillian Stephenson
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