The men’s and women’s cross country teams split their squads for competition on Oct. 2-3. The Orange and Blue sent a large group of runners to Lehigh’s Paul Short Run on Oct. 2, while the top 10 runners competed at the Greater Louisville Classic on Oct. 3. The Louisville Classic took place on the NCAA Championship course against some of the nation’s top-ranked teams.

The competition for Bison cross country began strong with the women’s team finishing as the best of the three Patriot League squads in the Brown race of Lehigh’s Paul Short Run. Notable performances include Margaret Thomson ’19 who finished first for the Orange and Blue and took 69th overall in 22:41. Colleen Buckley ’19 also joined the list of top 100 runners, finishing 95th out of the 387-runner field.

“The conditions weren’t great, but the team put out a great effort. A lot of people set personal records or improved their time from last year. For some, it was their first 6k race, and everyone’s first 6k of the season. Considering all of this, I would say the weekend was a success,” Delaney Worth ’18 said. 

The men finished 24th out of 39 teams in the Brown race of Lehigh’s Paul Short Run, with the top five runners amounting 648 points together. Andrew Kuchta ’16 was the top runner for the Bison in the 8k race, finishing in 24:56 in the 354-runner field. All five of the scored runners for the Orange and Blue finished in the top half of the large field.

The Orange and Blue proved themselves to be strong competitors at the Greater Louisville Classic on Oct. 3. The women finished 13th in a tough field of 30 teams. Kate Scott ’17 led the Bison through the 5k course, finishing 50th overall in 17:40. Chrissy Bendzinski ’18 finished three seconds and three spots after Scott in 53rd. The men shared similar success, finishing 15th overall in a field of 24 teams. Peter Murray ’16 led the team, finishing 108th overall. Other impressive performances include Luke Giugliano ’17 finishing 110th and Andrew Kirna ’16 finishing 113th.

The men’s and women’s cross country teams look forward to a weekend off before returning to competition Oct. 17. The team will separate again, with one group of runners competing in the Princeton Invitational while another group will run in the Penn State Open.