DARTMOUTH, Mass. --
Seniors
Kelsey Zator (Scotland) and
Ryan Escoda (Newtown) paced the Eastern Connecticut State University women's and men's cross country teams, respectively, at the 49th Annual University of Massachusetts Invitational Saturday morning at the Robert Dowd Cross Country Course on the campus of UMass Dartmouth.
While the men's overall finish of 14th and the women's finish of 21st was significance, of more importance was each team's results against Little East Conference competitors ahead of the LEC Championships in late October. While the conference championship is still six weeks away, the UMD Invitational provides an early barometer. Both Eastern teams were a point shy of the LEC championship a year ago, the men coming up just shy against the University of Southern Maine and the women a point behind Plymouth State University.
On Saturday, the Eastern men led a field of seven LEC institutions with its 14th place finish, with host UMass Dartmouth 18th, Rhode Island College 22nd, Southern Maine 25th, Keene State College 29th and Castleton University 33rd. Both Escoda and junior
Thomas Stone (Glastonbury) placed ahead of UMass Dartmouth's No. 1 finisher.
The Eastern women were second among six LEC competing schools, following Keene State College. Keene was 15th overall, Eastern 21st, UMass Dartmouth 29th, Rhode Island College 31st, Southern Maine 34th, and UMass Boston 37th. Keene's top three finishers all placed ahead of Eastern's No. 1. The Plymouth women competed Saturday at the Gordon College Pop Crowell Invitational, where it placed fifth in an eight-team field, while the Plymouth men won that meet in a field of six teams.
Among first-year runners on the women's team,
Meghan Georgescu (Cheshire) was Eastern's fourth finisher, while first-year junior transfers
Michael Parzych (Berlin) and
Dylan McGuire (Preston) ran 4-5 for the men.
Eastern participants at the Keene State Invitational Oct. 1 at 10 a.m.
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49Th ANNUAL CROSS COUNTRY INVITATIONAL
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WOMEN'S RESULTS
Run over 5,000 meters
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TEAM RESULTS
TOP 10
UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS DARTMOUTH
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- UMass Lowell; 54; 2. Stonehill College 120; 3. Southern New Hampshire U. 121; 4. WPI 139; 5. U.S. Coast Guard Academy 147; 6. Connecticut College 157; 7. Brandeis U. 189; 8. Wellesley College 221; 9. St. Anselm College 294; 10. Mount Holyoke College 350.
21. EASTERN CONN.
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INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
284 Finishers
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EASTERN'S FINISHERS
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95 (91)Â
Kelsey Zator 19:54; 132 (128)
Alison LeClerc 20:20; 139 (135)
Elisabeth Rodil 20:26; 141 (137)
Meghan Georgescu 20:31; 148 (144)
Keara Fontaine 20:37; 170 (164)
Iris Bazinet 21:05; 176 (169)
Nicole Popham 21:07; 220 (--)
Jill McGahan 22:23; 223 (--)
Kayla LaMalfa 22:26
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MEN'S RESULTS
Run over 5 miles
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TEAM RESULTS
TOP 10
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- UMass Lowell 65; 2. Connecticut College 115; 3. Franklin Pierce College 127; 4. Southern Conn. 137; 5. Salisbury U. 170; 6. WPI 181; 7. Southern New Hampshire U. 258; 8. Springfield College 267; 9. Trinity College 298; 10. Babson College 318.
14. EASTERN CONN.
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INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
282 Finishers
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EASTERN'S FINISHERS
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44 (42)
Ryan Escoda 26:00; 51 (49)
Thomas Stone 26:15; 74 (70)
Noah Linton 26:38; 96 (92)
Michael Parzych 26:55; 119 (115)
Dylan McGuire 27:18; 129 (123)
Jorich Swift 27:31; 172 (157)
Jake Haddad 28:20.
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