BY LOUIS GENOVESE, STAFF WRITER
The St. Bonaventure men’s and women’s cross-country teams made the trip to Delaware Park Saturday afternoon for the Canisius Alumni Classic.
The Bonnies had five men in the top 30 out of 119 runners. Freshman Zack Buckner finished sixth, coming in at 26:35.0, a mere 10 seconds short of his personal 8k time. Junior Darion Gregory finished 16th overall with a time of 27:06.7. Freshman Clay Peets, who led the team in each of the four meets this season, finished 19th with a time of 27:10.0. Sophomore Zane Courtwright finished 25th at 27:33.4 and graduate Nathan Prisella finished 27th at 27:35.2.
The women’s team had two runners place in the top 15 out of 120 runners. Senior Lindsey Lytle finished 12th overall with a 5K PR effort of 19:57. Fellow senior, Theresa Dristle, finished two spots behind her with a time of 20:00.7. Two freshmen finished next in the Bonnies top five, as Camryn Cwilinski(20:54.2) and Olivia Ippolito(20:59.4) placed 41st and 44th respectively.
The course didn’t provide the best environment for runners to get their best times as it had rained the night before, leaving thick mud and puddles.
Coach Bob McFarlane talked about the conditions regarding the course, feeling that his runners know head-on what to do in these types of situations.
“They were trying to decide should they run through the water or run to the sides,” said McFarlane. “It was a very challenging course which made the time a lot slower. You’re never going to have the perfect conditions to run in. When it comes to rain and snow, it just comes to experience.”
Freshman Zach Buckner talked about how it felt to finish first for the Bonnies after Peets led the team for four straight weeks.
“We’re definitely very competitive with each other,” said Buckner. “He tends to beat me more often in the races considering this is the first race I beat him in. When it comes to workouts and practices we’re basically neck and neck the whole time. It felt good leading the team.”
Buckner also had an illness that day and so did Peets. However, he mentioned it didn’t stop them from giving 100% during their race.
” I do feel bad because he’s been sick the past few weeks, but even though he’s been sick he still put up a great race,” said Buckner.
Buckner will not participate in the A-10 Championships in Ohio next Saturday Oct. 30. due to personal reasons, but he states that this won’t stop him from motivating his teammates to step up.
“The most I can do right now is give them tips and advice,” said Buckner. “But right now I’m working on training for track season. That way when we come back together as a team I can be the best runner for them.”
The women’s leading runner, Lytle, will make the trip to Ohio, citing her goal is to break her personal record time and set one final example in her last race for the Bonnies.
“Right before we start our race we have our little huddle,” said Lytle. “The captains and the seniors say their words of encouragement and whenever I say something it’s usually about making the most of it and having fun.”
genovelj20@bonaventure.edu
