BY COLBY GAINES, STAFF WRITER
The Harry Anderson Invitational was an all-around remarkable performance for the St. Bonaventure cross country program as the men’s team recorded seven different personal record times and clocked in 160 points to secure fifth place in Saturday’s contest. Furthermore, the women’s team collaborated for an eleventh-place finish led by two PR times from senior Lindsey Lytle and freshman Olivia Ippolito.
Most notably of Saturday’s performance however was two-time Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week freshman Clay Peets, who for the third time this season has recorded a top-five time in St. Bonaventure history with his PR time of 26:10 in Saturday’s invitational – also placing 12 overall out of 200 competitors.
The young runners for the men’s team combined to make up five of their top seven with Peets recording a 26:10 (PR); Zane Courtwright 27:09.9 (PR); Zach Buckner 27:16; Brian Gleason 27:23.4 (PR); and Thomas Dachik 27:40.4 (PR).
The veteran Bonnies also showed out on Saturday with fifth-year senior Nathan Prisella contributed with a 26:28.9 run to place second for the Bonnies and nineteenth overall along with junior Darion Gregory clocking in just under 27 minutes with a 26:59.3 run to finish third for the Brown and White.
The women’s team put together some great individual performances as well on Saturday, recording four PR times led by senior Lindsey Lytle to secure eleventh place in last weekend’s contest in Rochester.
Lytle led the way for the Bonnies with her 20:07.5 PR in the 5K, securing 47 place for the Brown and White. Lytle wasn’t the only Bonnie to come away with an impressive feat on Saturday as freshman Olivia Ippolito also squashed her previous best by almost 50 seconds with her 20:40.4 effort. Sophomore Emily Peterson secured third place for Bonaventure recording 20:56.3 while freshman Camryn Cwiklinski came in fourth 21:04.7; and senior Amberlee Robertson finished the top five at 21:06.2.
“I think that the team has been working really hard at practice and it’s paying off,” says Ippolito. “We always motivate each other and make sure to have positive attitudes before we race which always helps. Overall, I’m happy with my progression so far with our first few races and I hope to continue to improve and beat my previous times.”
The Bonnies look to retain their positivity and build off Saturday’s competition for the upcoming Louisville Classic on October 2, where both teams will travel to Louisville, Kentucky.
gainesca21@bonaventure.edu
