Men’s cross country finishes first at Dickinson Long-Short Invite Saturday

Last Saturday, the Carnegie Mellon cross country team competed in the Dickinson College Long-Short Invite.

On the men’s side, the starting squad returned in an impressive fashion, finishing first overall out of 22 teams in the 4K race with 10 points. Some of the runners participated in the 8K race, taking third overall out of 25 teams with 41 points.

The women’s team also had a good day, finishing fourth out of 23 teams with 57 points in the four-kilometers and 13th out of 17 teams with 19 points in the 6K competition.

Senior Brian Harvey kicked off his season with a first place finish in the 4K race with a time of 12:01.79. Behind Harvey, senior Breck Fresen (12:19:45) and junior Dario Donatelli (12:23.58) took fourth and fifth, respectively.

“Coach hasn’t been racing the top guys so far this year to keep us fresh for the Nationals,” Fresen commented.

Sophomore J.P. Allera (12:26.58) and senior Ryan Anderson (12:28.22) rounded out the top 10 with eighth- and ninth-place finishes, respectively. First-year Rob Morhard continued his strong rookie season by taking 24th with a time of 12:48.26.

In the 8K, sophomore Dan Addis placed seventh overall with a time of 26:28.16. First-year Matt Jacob (27:00.75) and sophomore Justin Kurp (27:12.26) put up solid numbers, taking 16th and 21st overall, respectively. Senior Mike Condon and sophomore Josh Eichmeier finished 23rd and 24th overall with times of 27:13.75 and 27:14.37, respectively.

“This year is a very lucky year for us because it is both a transition year and a year in which we are very excited about our prospects,” Donatelli said. “There are not many new faces this year so that it seems that we will be with the same core group in which the younger members can look up to and learn the legacy of success and excellence.”

On the women’s side, first-year Liz Stern continued to impress with a seventh-place finish in the 4K race with a time of 15:00.05. Behind Stern, sophomore Courtney Baker and first-year Christine Warner finished 20th and 31st overall, respectively. Senior Carolyn Clayton took 41st overall with a time of 15:52.76.

First-year Cassie Wallace led the team in the 6K competition, finishing 24th overall with a time of 24:20.71. Senior Chrissy Krutz took 42nd overall with a time of 25:17.45.

“This is the strongest team I have been on in four years. Everyone trained really hard in the off-season and it’s showing,” said Krutz. “The newcomers have looked really strong in all three distances and I am really excited to see how this season finishes.”

Both the men’s and women’s teams will look to carry their momentum heading into Cedarville, Ohio this Saturday at Cedarville University.