The St. Thomas Aquinas College cross country program traveled to Rochester, NY to compete in the Harry F. Anderson Invitational. The race was a great opportunity to race the course they will see at the conference championship in Early November which will be hosted by Roberts Wesleyan College. The team showed major inprovements in their second race of the season.
Senior Ian Mirtile stepped up for the men's squad as the first Spartan finisher in 27:32. After sitting out last season, he is getting back into racing form and should continue to battle for oneof the top spots on the team. Junior Kyle Kondracki ran a great race, clocking in at 28:04 which is just shy of his personal best. Sophomore Matt Tina was next in 28:14. Three Freshmen made major jumps from their collegiate debuts. Kevin Bouyea (28:18), Dan Agostinho-Vides (28:38), and Raymond Meagher (28:51) dropped more than two minutes from their times last week. Senior Joseph Lipari ran a personal best of 29:07. The team finished in 9th place.
Junior Rebecca MacLeod and sophomore Abagaile Kimbrell challenged one another through the race and were numbers one and two for the women's team. MacLeod's strong finish gave her the first spot in 19:41.3, just in front of Kimbrell at 19:41.4. Junior Aida Torpey was the next to cross the line in 20:13. Redshirt junior Laura Herbes ran a collegiate personal best in 20:31. Freshmen Gabriella Mott (20:50) and Samantha Biss (20:58) also showed major progress from their first collegiate race, dropping about ninety seconds each. Classmate Emma Sheedy also had a good showing in 21:55. The team finished in 8th place.
Both teams will break from racing next weekend and return to action on October 6th at the NJIT Highlander Invitational which will be held at Branch Brook Park in Newark, NJ.