On October 1, the men’s and women’s cross country teams competed in the Purple Valley Classic which was held in Williamstown, MA, and hosted by Williams College. The race was a six-kilometer course for the women, the first of this season, and eight kilometers for the men. Additionally, this marks the Ducks’ first appearance at the Purple Valley Classic since 2015. The men’s team finished in fourth place, and the women’s team finished in 10th place.
In particular, the Stevens athletes that stood out from the women’s team included junior Rachel Pinho, who led with a 6:49.2 mile pace for a six-kilometer time of 25:25.9, falling just over three minutes behind the lead runner, Mary Kate McGranahan from Amherst. Junior Fionna Feerick finished behind Pinho with a 26:38, and the third Stevens finisher was first-year Taylor Enes, in her first collegiate 6-kilometer event with a 27:07. Graduate student Caroline Corr had a 27:28.6, and sophomore Samantha Rozek’s 27:38.3 ended the women’s roster for Stevens.
On the men’s side, three Ducks finished inside the top 25 finishers of the race. Junior Jake Aylmer was the first Duck to cross the finish line, with a 5:21.4 mile pace to finish with a 26:33.6, the second-best of his career. Following Aylmer was Senior Ronnie Melao coming in second for the Ducks, with a 5:24.9 mile pace to complete the course at a final time of 26:55.1, which is his second-best time for this event. Junior Liam Concannon was the third Duck to finish among the top 25 runners with a 5:25.4 mile pace and finishing at 26:57.6.
Men’s and women’s cross country head coach John Kolibab offered some encouraging remarks to his team. He commended the team on great performances on a course harder than typical for Stevens. Regarding the leaders in the men’s race, Kolibab stated, “The trio of Jake Aylmer, Ronnie Melao, and Liam Concannon were spectacular today: all three went under 27 minutes, which speaks volumes to their potential. Our men did not look out of place in the slightest against some very talented competition and competing well today will only boost their confidence heading into the back half of the season.”
Kolibab mirrored similar sentiments for the performance of the women’s team at the event. He commended the team for “going out and competing” and for their exceptional performance on their first six-kilometer race of the season on a challenging course. Kolibab concluded his remarks by stating, “while the times weren’t close to where they’ll be over the rest of the season, I’m happy with how our women attacked the course today. You can expect big improvement from them over the next couple of meets, and I’m excited to see how they perform on some more runner-friendly courses.”
The Purple Valley Classic was followed by the DeSales University Invitational in Pennsylvania, where the men took 10th of 20 and the women placed 9th of 19. The next meet for men’s and women’s cross country is the Connecticut College invitational taking place tomorrow, October 15 at 11 a.m. in New London, CT.
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