Women's Cross Country Places 10th
Matt Fuentes
|
Undoubtedly one of the youngest squads in the region, the women's cross country team competed for the second time this past weekend at UMass Dartmouth.
Only three upper classman are on the roster this year and well over half of the team is made up of freshman. Senior Allie Lemire and juniors Giselle Harrington and Kate Barton will lead the team as co-captains.
Nonetheless, the team performed far above their age and experience level and placed 10th out of 41 teams. Lemire led the Bantams with the strongest race of her four-year career, as she placed 13th overall in the highly competitive field. She completed the five-kilometer course in a time of 18:48, a personal best, and averaged 6:37 per mile. Only five NESCAC runners managed to beat her, a result that bodes well for her postseason hopes.
Freshman standout Reagan Aylmer was the second Bantam to finish with a time of 19:19, good enough for 32nd place. Aylmer has shown promise this season, having finished first of the eight freshmen in both races. Harrington was third for Trinity, with an 83rd place finish and a time of 19:55. Barton finished 20 seconds later in 96th place. Katlin Mock '12 completed the scoring for Trinity when she crossed the line at 20:33 in 104th place. The aggregate score for the five runners was 328 points, one point ahead of 11th place Wellesley College.
Though the three co-captains may be in the significant minority, they are not alone in terms of team leadership. Trinity alumna Kristina Miner returns as a two year Graduate Assistant, and will help Head Coach George Suitor. Miner graduated last spring after a career in which she competed on the national level multiple times. Her personal experiences should help guide the young squad later in the season when they begin to approach the championship meets.
The men's team joined the women at UMass Dartmouth, placing fifth overall. Hunter Norte '09 led the Bantams with an 11th place finish and a time of 25:24 for the eight kilometer race. Mike Burnstein '12, who won his inaugural collegiate race in the last meet, placed 20th. His time of 25:33 is very strong for a freshman running his first eight kilometer race and it appears he could be a future star for the Bantams. Brendan Powers '11, Wes Halstead '11, and Ryan Lane '10 were the other three Trinity runners to score. After dropping out of his first race due to injury, senior co-captain Sam Moorhead elected not to race.
Next weekend both teams travel to Connecticut College to run at Harkness State Park, the home of last year's New England Championships. The following weekend they will make their big trip of the year when they fly out to Hanover College in Indiana.
Be the first to comment on this story