Women's Cross Country | 9/2/2016 8:53:00 PM
PITTSFORD, NY – The RIT women's cross country team opened the 2016 season with a resounding victory over five local colleges at the St. John Fisher College Early Season Invitational on Friday evening. RIT won the team title with 36 points, handily defeating second place SUNY Geneseo, who had 52 points.
Senior
Emma Jones (Rochester, NY/Rush-Henrietta), an All-Atlantic Region finisher a year ago, got off to a tremendous start in 2016, winning the 4,000-meter race by 21 seconds in a strong time of 15:09. It is her second career individual victory, as she also won the season-opening Oswego State Invitational in 2014.
Sophomore
Becca Schwan (LeRoy, NY/LeRoy) recorded an impressive third place finish, completing the 4,000-meter course in a time of 15:36. Classmate
Hannah Weppner (East Aurora, NY/East Aurora) placed sixth overall with a time of 16:09.
Sophomore transfer
Nicole Mackey (South New Berlin, NY/Unadilla Valley) placed 12th overall with a time of 16:24, while juniors
Martine Bosch (Endwell, NY/Maine-Endwell) and
Jeriann Beiter (Lima, NY/Honeoye Falls-Lima) finished 14th and 15th overall. Bosch recorded a time of 16:27, a second ahead of Beiter.
Emily Knaul (Sudbury, MA/Lincoln-Sudbury Regional),
Jennifer Crossen (Bason, NY/Oakfield-Alabama), and
Brooke Busa (Chittenango, NY/Chittenango) also recorded top-25 finishes.
Freshmen
Alex Carpenter (),
Allison Meyer (Southbury, CT/Pomperaug),
Hayley Foran (Chittenango, NY/Chittenango), Liz Blake, and
Melissa Kraeger (Rochester, NY/Greece Arcadia) all made their collegiate debuts in the race.
"I'm extremely proud of today's effort, from our scoring runners to those fighting to crack the starting lineup," said RIT head coach
Dave Stevens. "Top to bottom, the ladies put it all out there. We couldn't haved asked for a better way to start our season."
RIT is coming off a historic 2015 season in which they advanced to the NCAA Division III Tournament for the first time in program history and were ranked as high as No. 2 regionally and nationally ranked for a majority of the year.
The Tigers are off next weekend, but back in action on Saturday, Sept. 17 as they head to nearby Genesee Valley Park to compete at the University of Rochester Yellow Jacket Invitational. The meet begins at 12 p.m.
