Pioneers Run to 4th Place Finish at Houghton

Both the men's and women's cross country teams raced to 4th place finishes at the Houghton College Highlander Short Course Twilight Invitational. Alfred State was one of seven teams that competed in the season opening event.

Shawn Rutledge (Watkins Glen) led the men's team with a 31st place finish. He crossed the finish line of the 5k course in 17:12.6 (5:33 per mile). Ryan Lohr (West Seneca West) was 36th (17:23.2), Matthew Connolly (Elmira Notre Dame) was 40th (17:38.3), Jonathon Palmer (Shawane, WI) was 55th (18:42.4), and Austin Demberg (Westtown/Minisink Valley) rounded out the top five with a 59th place finish (18:53.3).

The men scored a 121 in the event and finished ahead of Alfred University (156) and Keuka (161). RIT won the meet with a 24 followed by Roberts Wesleyan (35), and Houghton (85). Elmira competed as well but did not field a full team. 93 runners competed in the event.

Julia Russell (Candor) was the top female finisher of the 4k course. She crossed the finish line in 16:15.7 (6:33 per mile) to earn 19th. Veronica Dailey (Addison) was 24th in 16:26.8, Katherine Frascella (Franklinville) was 55th (19:14.6), Molly Heaphy (West Hempstead/Long Island Lutheran) was 58th (19:39.1), and Emily Brigman (Lancaster) was 61st (19:47.0) to round out the top five.

Roberts Wesleyan took the team tiel with a score of 25 followed by RIT (31), Houghton (94), and Alfred State (134). Elmira finished 5th (151), Alfred University 6th (154), and Keuka 7th (180). 86 runners competed in the event.

The team is back in action next Saturday when they compete at the Alfred University meet. Action is slated to begin at Noon at the Jericho Hill Course.