DARTMOUTH, Mass. – The Eastern Connecticut State University men's cross country team placed two runners in the Top 50 and the women's 3-4-5 runners placed 19 spots apart of one another as both teams ran strong at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Invitational Saturday morning.
In their second meet of the season, both Eastern teams took third place among competing Little East Conference teams. The men were 15th overall in a field of 43 team over the five mile campus layout, and the women checked in 16th among 42 competing teams over 5,000 meters.
Behind individual team leader Lee Cattanach (New London), the Eastern men got strong finishes from their other four scoring runners: freshman Omar Abdelsame (Plainville), senior Taylor Flynn (Old Saybrook), and sophomores Cooper Goslin (South Windsor), and Ryan Jones (Suffield). Cattanach placed among the top 10 percent (31st in a field of 324) in a time of 26:17. Jones suffered heat exhaustion during the race but managed to stagger across the finish line. Junior Mike Underwood (Farmington) ran strong in the sub-varsity race, placing 50th in a field of 200 in a personal best time of 29:34.
Abdelsame, the team leader in the season-opener last Saturday at Wickham Park, was running an 8000 meter course for the first time Saturday while Flynn ran one of the most impressive races of his career to post a personal best of 28:10 as the pack of Flynn, Goslin, first-year transfer Jones and sophomore Noah Hallisey (East Lyme) finished within a 25-second span.
Freshman Samantha McKosky (Deep River) led the women for the second straight race and was followed by juniors Mariah McPhee (Bristol) and Sofia Amaral (New Milford), sophomore Ariel Smith (Stratford), and senior Kelsey Nixon (Ledyard). Amaral, Smith and Nixon placed within 19 spots of each other. McKosky crossed the finish line among the top 11 percent, capturing 36th place among 315 finishers.
Eastern competes at the Community College of Rhode Island Tri-State Open Oct. 3 at 11 a.m.
EASTERN'S FINISHERS
MEN
Run over 5 miles
31. Lee Cattanach 26:17; 52. Omar Abdelsame 26:46; 137. Taylor Flynn 28:10; 144. Cooper Goslin 28:18; 153. Ryan Jones 28:34; 154. Noah Hallisey 28:35; 165. Joe Rainville 28:46; 188. Chris Armstrong 29:16.
WOMEN
Run over 5,000 meters
36. Samantha McKosky 19:29; 86. Mariah McPhee 20:15; 129. Sofia Amaral 20:55; 140. Ariel Smith 21:02; 149. Kelsey Nixon 21:13; 160. Megan Albert 21:24; 244. Evalin Brautigam 23:16; 250. Amanda Terenzi 23:31.
