By Ethan MacKrell
Contributing Writer
Last weekend, both the men’s and women’s cross country teams traveled to Albany for the 49th annual Great Dane Invitational. The meet was the last race both the teams have before the Atlantic 10 Championships in Richmond, Virginia on Oct. 31.
On the women’s side, senior Aubrie Russell led the team to an eighth-place finish out of 17 schools. Russell’s time of 19:26.7 resulted in a 52nd place finish out of 186 runners, and her time was the ninth fastest 5k run in the women’s team history. Strong performances were also seen by freshmen Rachel Guyer and Emily Izydorczak, with Guyer running a 19:53.1 while grabbing 74th place and Izydorczak finishing in 76th place with her time of 19:54.7.
Izydorczak said she thought the team had a strong showing at the Great Dane Invitational despite the wind and the course’s length.
“Everyone put in a lot of effort. We went out and did our job,” Izydorczak said.
Izydorczak also noted that the team is currently in great shape and that mental toughness will be a key component to improve for the upcoming Atlantic 10 Conference Championships.
“If we were to improve in any way throughout the rest of the season, we would just need to stay positive,” Izydorczak said. “Cross country is a mental sport where 10 percent is running and 90 percent is in your head.”
The men’s team also ran at the Great Dane Invitational, but they were unable to crack a spot inside the top half of schools, placing 10th out of the 14 competing schools. However, senior Joe Ferencik placed 48th out of the 158 runners, and his time of 26:57.3 was the eighth-fastest 8k time in the program’s history.
Mackree15@bonaventure.edu
