The women’s cross country team had a great run at the Notre Dame Invitational this weekend, finishing fifth overall. Senior Lucy Van Dalen (Wanganui, New Zealand) won the invitational in 16:22, beating the second place finisher by four seconds. Her twin sister, Holly van Dalen (Wanganui, New Zealand), finished sixth in 16:33.

“This was a very exciting race for the twins and the team today,” head coach Andy Ronan said in a press release. “Lucy and Holly are All- Americans on the track; now, with today’s performance, they have put themselves in a position to achieve it in cross country. They and the team still have work to do, and we need to get better in order for us to achieve the goals set out for the season. But today was a wonderful start to the competitive season.”

The twins had back up from freshman Annie Keown (Auckland, New Zealand), who finished 24th in 17:10, junior Hayley Green (Wellington, New Zealand), who finished 39th in 17:23 and freshman Olivia Burne (Palmerston North, New Zealand), who finished 83rd in 17:54.

The women race again in the Metropolitan Championships on Oct. 9.

Men’s XC struggles

The men’s cross country team ran this weekend at the Paul Short Invitational in Pennsylvania, hosted by Lehigh University.

Missing three of their top five runners, the team finished 39th overall.  The top finisher for Stony Brook was Drew Dillingham (Riverdale, N.Y.), a junior, who ran the 8K in 25:23, placing 130th.  The team races again in the Metropolitan Championships on Oct. 9.