Both the men’s and women’s cross country teams crushed the Dickinson Long-Short Invitational on Sept. 26. Despite a challenging training schedule, the women took seven of the top 10 spots. The men occupied the top three scored places and had 10 runners finish in the top 20. The Bison competed in the 4k portion of the invitational, leaving 28 other teams in the dust.

The Orange and Blue were determined to defend their title in the 4k race from last season, despite a week of high volume and high intensity training. Kate Scott ’17 had a noteworthy performance, taking the first-place finish with an impressive time of 14:07. Sarah Chandler ’17 crossed the finish line five seconds later, placing second overall. Chrissy Bendzinski ’18 and Deanna Godby ’16 took third and fourth place, respectively. Nora Adams ’16, Kate VanNess ’16, and Alison Billas ’16 finished in sixth through eighth.

“The race this weekend went very well for both teams winning the overall title. I believe we did well as a team, working together during the race in order to push each other to do our best. Hopefully this race will give us momentum going into the races next week at Louisville and Lehigh,” Scott said.

The men had a similar victorious outcome at the Dickinson invitational. Out of a field of 196 competitors, the Bison had 10 runners finish within the top 20. Noteworthy performances include Luke Giugliano ’17, who was the top collegiate runner in 12:03. John Westwood ’16 and Andrew Kuchta ’16 claimed second and third among collegiate runners, respectively. John Kirna ’16 and Ross Pirnie ’17 finished 11th and 12th overall, while Will Bordash ’18, Peter Murray ’16, and Jordan Jackson ’17 finished in a pack shortly after, earning the 14th through 16th places.

“We had a really great meet considering the hard training week. We were really training through the meet to get ready for Louisville. A lot of guys ran great races, and we showed some promise. We are really excited for the big meets coming up and can’t wait to prove ourselves to the rest of the Patriot League,” Westwood said.

The Bison will split the squad Oct. 2-3. One group of runners will participate in Lehigh’s Paul Short Run on Oct. 2, while the other group will run at the Greater Louisville Classic on Oct. 3.