Saturday’s perfect running weather—rain, overcast skies, and muddy trails—came with success for the cross-country teams at the season opening Wesleyan Invitational.
The highlight of Saturday’s contest was Sean Watson’s ’08 first place finish, with a time of 26:39 in the 8,000-meter course.
“I tried to stay with Jon [King ’07] and Alex [Battaglino ’07] the whole race,” Watson said. “The Army guy tried to jump out in front and I wasn’t going to let him beat all of us. But I never expected to win.”
Watson was closely followed by King (third place), Battaglino (fourth place), Anda Greeney ’07 (fifth place), and Ed Kenney ’07 (twelfth place).
“[The meet] went alright, but we didn’t have that much in the way of competition; two teams, one with decent runners,” said co-captain Nick Holowka ’07. “It felt more like a time trial. Sean was sixth or seventh last year, but he had a really good race. We had high expectations for him, but this was beyond what we would have thought he was capable of.”
The men had a small contest with Army B (32), beating them with a score of 25, while blowing by New England College (85). The women defeated Mt. Holyoke (40) and Connecticut College (67) with a score of 26.
“Overall I’m pleased with the performances of both teams,” said head coach John Crooke. “The men right now are a deeper team and felt more ready. The women are not quite as strong as they’ve been in the past, but they ran as hard as they could.”
Co-captain Ellen Davis ’07 had the top time of 19:24 for the 5,000-meter course, followed by Lucia Pier ’08 (second place), Anna Schindler ’09 (sixth place), Julia Stone ’09 (seventh place), and Hannah Hastings ’08 (10th place).
“Times weren’t as fast as we had hoped, but it has been our tradition that we always get faster at the end of the season,” said co-captain Megan Kretz ’07.
There were no real surprises on the women’s team, though the team received a boost from Stone and Hastings, both transfer students.
“Julia and Hannah are a great addition to our team,” Kretz said. “They’re looking very strong.”
Both teams are looking forward to the New England Open, which they will run on Saturday, Oct. 7 in Franklin Park, Mass.
“There will be a lot of good teams at the open,” Battaglino said. “It will be a better indicator of where we are.”
“We’re looking forward to great things,” Davis added. “Hopefully greater than today.”
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