PLATTSBURGH, NY - The State University of New York at New Paltz cross country team(s) were in action today at the SUNYAC Championships hosted by SUNY Plattsburgh. The men ran 8k and the women 6k at the Rugar Woods Cross Country Course on the campus of SUNY Plattsburgh. The men came in third out of twelve teams in the championship race. The women finished sixth out of ten teams in the championship race. Women's race had a three-way tie for fourth and the Hawks came up sixth after the NCAA tiebreaker was applied to scoring. The Hawks earned eleven new personal bests and one season best performance. This was the highest men's team finish since 2018.

Oliver Melara-Perez led the men's team with a second-place finish in a time of 26:14.8. Melara-Perez earned first team all-conference by virtue of his top five finish and earned immediate induction into the SUNYAC Hall of Fame. Evan Miller finished sixth with a time of 26:29.3. Miller earned second team all-conference by virtue of his top ten finish. Corbin Smith and Anthony Willis followed in fourteenth and thirty-first place(s) with time(s) of 27:04.4 and 27:55.3 respectively. Smith earned third team all-conference honors by virtue of his top fifteen finish and a new personal best in the 8k. Joe Palazzolo rounded out the Hawks' scoring five in thirty-ninth place with a new personal best time of 28:15.3. Mike Harbord and Aiden Hesseltine finished as the Hawks' displacers in forty-third and fifty-fifth place(s) with times of 28:23.1 and 29:08.2 respectively. Harbord earned a new personal best in the 8k.

Orquidea Briceno finished eleventh overall to lead the Hawks in a new personal best time of 22:53.2. Briceno earned third team all-conference honors by virtue of her top fifteen finish. Hunter Larson finished next for the Hawks in sixteenth place with a new personal best time of 23:18.4. Lillian Stephenson finished next in twenty-eighth place with a time of 24:47.2. Marcela Figueroa finished in thirty-first place with a new personal best time of 24:53.5. Kate Turner finished in thirty-fourth place with a new personal best time of 25:05.0 to close out the scoring five for the Hawks. Ava Nargentino and Juliana Vanorden finished as the Hawks displacers in fiftieth and fifty-ninth place(s) and new personal best times of 26:00.9 and 26:44.6 respectively.

Today's SUNYAC Championship meet marked the final appearance for the Hawks as they will join the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) in fall 2026. The cross country team(s) have next weekend off before returning to action on Saturday November 15 for the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships hosted by St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY.

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