WATERFORD – A year ago under first-year coach David Nicholson, the Eastern Connecticut State University men's and women's cross country teams finished among the team leaders (men, 2^nd; women, 3^rd) in the White race at the Connecticut College Invitational at Harkness Memorial State Park.
 
Saturday under the second-year head coach, the Warriors challenged themselves by moving up to the Blue (Championship) race. And although the results were not as impressive – both teams finishing 24^th among 26 teams against higher-quality competition -- the move may pay off in two weeks when the teams compete for the Little East Conference championship at Keene State College.
 
In a field of 209 individuals over 8,000 meters, the men competed without top runner Thomas Stone (Glastonbury), and were led by seniors Jake Haddad (Vernon) and Michael Parzych (Berlin), sophomore Digby Ludlow (Preston), junior Liam Stafford (Alexandria, VA) and first-year runner Zachary D'Andrea (Wallingford), who combined for the team's  695 points.
 
Haddad (26:39) scored 115 points, with Parzych (27:06) 132, Ludlow (27:18) 139, Stafford (27:32) 145 and D'Andrea (28:36) 164.
 
In a field of 218 finishers over 6,000 meters (1,000 meters longer than the standard women's course), the Eastern women totalled 651 points behind sophomore Meghan Georgescu (Cheshire), graduate student Keara Fontaine (North Kingstown, RI), sophomore Alison LeClerc (Wolcott), senior Elisabeth Rodil (Milford, NH) and junior Julia Berthiaume (Portland), the latter running her first race of the season.
 
Georgescu (23:32) totalled 95 points, Fontaine (23:38) 105, LeClerc (24:00) 118, Rodil (25:27) 163 and Berthiaume (26:06) 170.
 
Additional runners for the men Saturday were junior Dylan McGuire (Preston), sophomore Jake Thompson (Portland), Charles Coccoli (Redding) and Ian Vasquez (Watertown). McGuire (28:42) was the men's No. 6 finisher and Thompson (29:26) No. 7 in the Blue race, while Coccoli (30:23)  and Vasquez (31:03) both participated in the White race.
 
For the women, sophomore Kayla LaMalfa (Portland) was the team's No. 6 finisher in the Blue race in a time of 29:09.
 
At last year's LEC Championships at Franklin Park in Boston, the Eastern women were second and the men were third. This year's race is hosted by Keene State College, where the Eastern men and women each placed sixth in fields of over 20 teams at the Keene Invitational two weeks ago.