The men’s and women’s cross country teams separated for competition on Oct. 17. The top 10 runners travelled to New Jersey to compete in the Princeton Invitational, while the rest of the roster ran in the Penn State Open. These were the last two regular season meets for the Bison. On Oct. 31, Colgate will host the Patriot League Championships in Hamilton, N.Y.

The women finished sixth overall in the Princeton Invitational, led by a strong performance from Sarah Chandler ’17. Chandler finished seventh out of 206 runners with an amazing time of 21:23 on the difficult 6K course. The Orange and Blue finished ahead of Georgetown, Rider, La Salle, and Saint Joseph’s. Other notable performances include Deanna Godby ’16 in 43rd and Kate VanNess ’16 in 47th.

The men also had a day full of solid performances at the Princeton Invitational, finishing seventh overall out of 21 teams. The Orange and Blue were ahead of Lehigh, Temple, and Duquesne in the top 10. Impressive performances include Luke Giugliano ’17, who finished first for the Bison, taking 35th. Will Bordash’18 finished right behind him in 36th. Crossing the line at nearly the exact same time, Giugliano finished in 24:51.5 and Bordash with 24:51.7 on the 8K course.

“The race was a very good indicator in the direction we want to head as a team two weeks out from leagues. We were able to work in the groups we wanted to, and were able to follow our pre-race plans. Overall, I’m happy with the way the team performed,” Bordash said.

The Penn State Open turned out to be a harsh day of weather, with temperatures in the upper 30s and freezing rain. The Bison didn’t let this setback factor into their performance. Notable performances include Margaret Thomson ’19, who paced the Bison with an eighth place finish out of 39 runners and was the third fastest freshman in the field. Leigh Ann Labate ’16 was four spots behind, finishing 12th overall. Brennan Sharkey ’18, Lauren Hazzard ’19, and Katie FitzGerald ’17 finished 18th, 19th, and 20th, respectively.

“I think the team ran really well and it was a nice course to run. Everyone really got out in the beginning of the race and then we were able to run in packs, which helped us push each other,” Sharkey said.

For the men, Louis Tobias ’17 was the Bison’s top runner at Penn State, finishing 10th out of 33 in 27:31 for the 8K race. Other strong performances include Jordan Jackson ’17 taking 14th and Matt Taddeo ’17 finishing 16th.

These meets mark the end of the regular season for the Bison, who will now move into their post-season competition.