Men’s and Women’s Cross Country traveled to Easton, Pa. to compete at the Lafayette Preview on Friday, Sept. 6. The Bison women’s 16 points landed them the team victory over second place Seton Hall, and the men’s team scored 56 points for a third-place finish.

The women raced the 5k (3.1 miles) distance, one kilometer longer than last week, as they prepared to move up to 6k (3.75 miles). The field included Patriot League rivals American, Loyola Maryland, Lafayette, Colgate and regional rival Seton Hall.

Caryn Rippey ’26 led the way for the Orange and Blue, running a quick 17:13.60, 36 seconds ahead of second place. The Bison were right behind Rippey, placing seven runners in the top ten. Kailey Granger ’27, Lauren Trapani ’25, Meghan Rentner ’27 and Sarah Policano ’25 completed the scoring, placing second, third, fourth and sixth respectively with an average time of 17:46.

The men’s team raced the 6k distance for the second time this season, as they look to move up to 8k (5 miles) in the coming weeks. Max Crockett ’25 was the first to finish for the Bison, placing fourth overall in 18:36.00.

“I’m satisfied with my performance this weekend, but I know there’s still much work to be done. As a team, we know we have much more to show and fortunately there are plenty of opportunities to prove it,” Crockett said.  

Harry Marson ’25 joined Crockett in the top ten, finishing eighth overall. Jayson Harmer ’26, Bobby Lynam ’25 and Grant Kern ’26 rounded out the scoring for the Bison with 13th, 14th and 17th place finishes respectively.

Patriot League rivals American and Lafayette finished ahead of the Bison scoring 23 and 52 points respectively. These are two teams that the Bison have repeatedly placed ahead of in conference championship meets. Lafayette has not topped the Bison since 2021, nor has American since 2017.

It is still a long road to November, and both teams will continue their seasons in State College, Pa. on Sept. 13, where they will compete in the Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational.