We are right in the middle of cross country season here at Stony Brook. The air is getting chilly, the leaves are starting to fall, and the Seawolves’ men and women cross country teams are alive and kicking.
The latest action had the Seawolves split across the country, with the women competing in the Notre Dame Invitational in Indiana and the men competing in the Paul Short Invitational in Lehigh, Penn.
The women finished fourth in front of eight teams, including two teams that are ranked ahead of them in the Northeast Region, Providence and Boston College. Even more reason to believe this was a great effort for the women is the fact that the eight teams that were beaten by Stony Brook were all ranked in the top thirty in the NCAA.
The men finished in a less-than-desirable spot, finishing 19th in a field of 45 colleges.
The women, who came in to the season ranked number three in the northeast, have placed amongst the top of colleges, but have not yet placed a top finisher. The women’s highest finisher was Holly Van Dalen, the sophomore from Wanganui, New Zealand, who crossed 20th with a time of 17:08.
It has been a very productive season so far for Van Dalen, who has consistently been one of the team top finishers amongst the Seawolves. Following suit in her sister’s steps has been Lucy Van Dalen, who finished 22nd, also with a time of 17:08.
The local girl from Smithtown, Jessica Hampson, crossed the line right after Lucy, in 23rd place. Freshman Hayley Green from Wellington, New Zealand, took 35th place with a time of 17:18 and junior Laura Huet, hailing from Carrickmines, Ireland, crossed the finish line in 56th seventeen seconds later.
The men came into the season and the race being ranked 10th in the northeast region, but have faced some tough competition from participating colleges. The latest roadblock to a successful season came at the Paul Short Invitation, where the men finished 19th out of 45 colleges.
Top finisher sophomore Tim Hodge from Tawa, New Zealand, finished 11th with a time of 24:07. The next top finisher for the men was junior Alex Felce from Stroud, England, who finished 27th, 17 seconds later. Daire Bermingham, a junior from Portmarnock, Ireland, finished 50th with a time of 24:43. The men can take solace in the fact that they beat perennial rival Binghamton University and Marist College.
Head coach Andrew Ronan was optimistic his teams’ efforts will begin to pay off in the standings. It’s not as if the players are slacking, but their fortunes will turn and the players must lick their wounds from the previous race and look ahead to the next event which is the pre-NCAA meet in Terre Haute, Ind., an event the Seawolves have recently come to own with dominating performances. The race will take place Oct. 10.
