The Bison cross country team had a successful weekend at the Father Bede Invite. Both men and women were able to compete at a high level in Loretto on Saturday. Brendan Mellitt ’24 led the way for the men while defending Patriot League individual champion Ashlyn Ramos ’22 helped bring the women’s team to success.

Head Coach Kevin Donner was exceedingly happy with the performance by the Bison this weekend, especially noting the team’s ability to run together in a controlled effort on a challenging course with hilly terrain. He commended his runners’ tough mindsets and their maintenance of focus throughout the course. Coach Donner hopes that the next three weeks of training will further prepare the team for the competitive Paul Short Invite, where a diverse field will challenge the Bison like seldom before in the season.

Mellitt was narrowly surpassed by teammate Michael Donnelly ’24 last weekend at the Bison Open but was able to come out on top this week with an impressive finish of 27:36.7. Mellitt also beat out fellow teammates Owen Chase ’22 (27:37.3) and Brendan O’Toole ’22 (27:37.3). Spots two through five for the Orange and Blue all finished within six-tenths of a second from each other. Also in the top five was first-year Stephen Schousen ’25 (27:37.7).

Ramos had a successful race on Saturday, where she was the only runner to break 20 minutes on the course. She crossed the finish line with a time of 19:48.2 to place first. The Orange and Blue tallied the first seven runners across the line as well as 10 of the first 11. In second place was Abby Paczewski ’24 (20:02.7), followed by Emily Deschler ’22 (20:13.6), the Patriot League Runner of the week. Deschler ran against her sister Alyssa Deschler ’22 of the Red Flash, finishing 17th overall in the race.

“Our depth is amazing this season,” said Ramos. “Working on group running and pulling one another along has been huge to making everyone better.”

The Orange and Blue will train hard for the next few weeks before competing in the Paul Short Invite on Oct. 1.