Plattsburgh, NY — The State University of New York New Paltz last race in the SUNYAC is looming with the Hawks eyeing some individual top finishes with hopes of a stout performance on the team side for the men.
 
The Hawks enter the postseason tournament after a solid outing in their last meet of the regular season Oct. 18 at the Rowan Boarder Battle where 11 different runners earned new personal best times with two season-best performances.
 
Oliver Melara-Perez highlighted the meet, finishing with a time of 25:26.5 and 31st overall, which not only stood as a personal best time, but ranked second fastest in program history on any 8K course. The week prior, Melera-Perez placed sixth overall with a time of 26:08.4 at Lehigh's annual Paul Short Run. Melera-Perez hopes to take that momentum into SUNYAC's as he is primed to finish toward the top of the pack and earn All-SUNYAC and SUNYAC Hall of Fame status. Last season, the then junior placed 17th overall with a time of 27:52.0 at Oswego's home course.
 
Evan Miller has been SUNY New Paltz second-fastest harrier on the men's side, as he clocked in at 26:21.4 — a personal best — with a 91st-place standing at the 10th annual Rowan Boarder Battle a few weeks ago. The senior was the Hawks fastest runner at the SUNYAC Championships a season ago, placing second overall with a time of 26:51.9 to earn First-Team All-SUNYAC and an automatic placing into the SUNYAC Hall of Fame. His performance last season marked the best by any man in program history at the SUNYAC Championship, besting the previous fourth place standing by Mike Scher in 2014. The Bristol, NY native hopes to duplicate that performance Saturday.  
Rounding out the men's side thus far this season has been freshman Corbin Smith and junior Anthony Willis with Aiden Hesseltine not far behind as the top five for SUNY New Paltz. Although senior Joe Palazzolo and freshman Mike Harbord will look to make their mark in their last and first conference championship race for SUNY New Paltz.
 
Orquidea Briceno is the clear-cut No. 1 for the women. She ran her way to a First-Team All-SUNYAC and SUNYAC Hall of Fame recognition in her first SUNYAC Championship meet last season where she placed fifth overall with a time of 24:29.6. She's had an impressive year in her second season with SUNY New Paltz this fall. She's coming off a 58th place standing at Rowan two weeks ago where she set a new personal best time in the 6K at 22:58.4.
 
Hunter Larson has had a career final season with SUNY New Paltz, as the graduate student set a personal best time in her last outing at Rowan with a time of 23:39.4 as they finished as the team's second fastest runner. They hope to continue a break-out campaign Saturday in Plattsburgh. Last year, Larson was the fourth harrier for the Hawks, clocking in at 25:58.4 for a 23rd place standing. Rounding out SUNY New Paltz on the women's side is senior Lillian Stephenson, who placed 19th at last year's championships, followed by freshman Kate Turner and senior Ava Nargentino with senior Marcela Figueroa and freshmen Juliana Vanorden and Adelyn Ameigh-Coggen not too far behind.
 
Last season, the Hawks placed fourth and third on the men's and women's sides, respectively. They hope to best those finishes Saturday in the team's final stint in the SUNYAC before making the move to the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) next season. The 2025 SUNYAC Championship race will be held at Plattsburgh's Rugar Woods with the men's race beginning at 11 a.m. followed by the women's race at noon.
 
For more information on the 2025 Cross Country SUNYAC Championships, click here.


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