New Paltz, NY — The State University of New York New Paltz men's and women's cross-country program is back in action this weekend. Under the guidance of fourth year coach Thomas Hartnett, the Hawks begin their 68th year of competition on the men's side, while the women start on their 41^st season at SUNY New Paltz. Both programs will open their seasons Friday, 6p.m. August 29^th at the Vassar Season Starter in Poughkeepsie, NY.

The Hawks will be looking to improve upon their respective finishes of 2024. While the men finished fourth of ten teams in the SUNYAC Championship and the women placed third of ten teams in the conference meet. Both teams competed two weeks later at the NCAA DIII Mideast Regional Championship. The men finished 16th of 24 teams and the women finished 17th place among the 24 teams.

Beginning with the Vassar College Season Starter, the Hawks will compete in the Ron Stonitsch Invitational at Vassar, the Fred Pavlich Invitational hosted by Bard College, The Lehigh Paul Short Run and travel to Rowan University for the Border Battles Invitational.
  The Hawks return six of ten runners from a year ago on the men's side, led by junior Evan Miller who was the team's top finisher at the SUNYAC meet finishing second with a time of 26:51.9. Seniors Joe Palazzolo and Oliver Melara-Perez will also be returning to the team. Melara-Perez placed forty-first at NCAA Mideast Regional with a new personal best time of 25:57.5. Brandon Gardner, Anthony Willis and Aiden Hesseltine will be returning for their junior seasons with the Hawks. Gardner will be taking on the responsibility of captain this season for the men's team.
 
Hartnett brought in four newcomers to join the men's team. Joining the Hawks are first years Jack Sherman, Mike Harbord, Corbin Smith and Jake Rodriguez.
  "This preseason was a great start to the year. It's always a fun time to really bond with our teammates and really get a jump start on training" says Gardner. "This season will be different from our past seasons because we learned to put in more work in the beginning of the year and really excel in our championship level meets."

For the women, they return five of the fifteen runners from 2024 after graduating a large senior class. The women are led by captain Orquidea Briceno. Briceno finished fifth overall with a time of 24:29.6, earning first team All-SUNYAC selection and immediate induction into the SUNYAC hall of fame by virtue of her top five finish. Both Lillian Stephenson and Ava Nargentino are returning for their senior season with the Hawks. Hunter Larson is competing for the Hawks again this fall after finishing one hundred eighteenth in last year's NCAA Mideast Regional race with a times of 25:04.6. Alexandra Swink is returning for her sophomore season with the Hawks after finishing 48^th at last year's conference meet. 
 
Joining the women this season are four newcomers; Kate Turner, Adelyn Ameigh-Coggen, Juliana Vanorden and Anastasiya Kadomtseva-Sobczak.
  "Something that makes our team special is that we have a lot of newcomers. A lot of people like to look at that as a negative, but we look at is as a positive" says Briceno. "The freshman are eager to have good times, break records, to excel not only at meets but in practice. They put in the work during preseason and that will show at the meet. I think we're going to do great. We've trained for this and all we have to do is go out and run."
 
Season Preview Featuring Brandon Gardner and Orquidea Briceno
 


******************

To stay up to date with everything #NPHawks be sure to follow us on Twitter at @nphawks, Instagram and Facebook at @newpaltzhawks, and subscribe to our Youtube channel, New Paltz Hawks.