XC | Bottomley Wins, Voyageurs Women 2nd at Geneseo
Led by a stellar first place individual finish by Jenny Bottomley, the Laurentian women's cross country running team placed 2nd out of 14 NCAA Division III teams at the Mike Woods Geneseo Cross Country Invitational in Letchworth State Park, New York this weekend. The men's team also raced well, placing 7th out of 17 teams.
Bottomley ran the 6km course in a personal best time of 21:27, outpacing the field of 197 runners. She was followed by Heidi Tuszkiewicz in 10th place, also with a personal best time, in 22:25. Nicole Rich, Megan Crocker and rookie, Nicole Sartor, all finished in close succession, completing the scoring with a 19th, 20th and 22nd place finish. Their times were 23:11, 23:13 and 23:17 respectively. Jessie Nusselder and rookie Megan Sippel acted as displacers, finishing 29th and 41st with times of 23:29 and 23:45.
The women's squad's time of 22:42 was a meet record for the Vees, as was Bottomley's individual time. Bottomley ran 1:44 faster than her time at this race last year. It was the first time a Laurentian runner has won this race.
"Jenny was aggressive from the start, taking the lead almost from the gun," said Associate Head Coach, Darren Jermyn. "She was challenged by Geneseo runners Ramirez and Cossaro at the 4.5km mark, but she put the hammer down with 800m to go and was just flying at the finish."
In the men's race, rookie runner, Paul Sagriff, once again led the Voyageurs, placing 10th in the large field of 238 runners from 17 teams. Sagriff, a first year runner from Kingston, ran a personal best time of 25:32 over the 8km course to finish in the top 10 for the first time in his university career.
He was followed by Liam Passi, who finished 23rd in a time of 25:32; Caleb Beland who was 40th in 26:14; Sam Delage, who was 98th in 27:21 and Jarod Milford, who finished the scoring a 122nd place finish and a time of 27:56. Gordie Chown who was 156th in 28:40 and Mika Muinonen who was 173rd in 29:16 acted as displacers.
"Paul showed great composure in a large field, "said head coach, Dick Moss. "He worked his way through the pack and kicked his way into the top 10 on the home stretch. And the rest of the squad ran well, with almost everybody, on both the men's and women's teams, running personal bests or season's PBs."
Individual Results – Laurentian Women
1. Jenny Bottomley, 21:27
10. Heidi Tuszkiewicz, 22:25
19. Nicole Rich, 23:11
20. Megan Crocker, 23:13
22. Nicole Sorter, 23:17
29. Jessie Nusselder, 23:29
41. Meghan Sippel, 23:45
52. Breanne Steven, 23:55
54. Lindsay Robinson, 24:00
117. Lyndsay Greasley, 25:24
125. Kelsey Lefebvre, 25:36
148. Karissa Merrylees, 26:28
Team Scores - Women
1. Geneseo, 38 pts
2. Laurentian, 72
3. Rochester, 124
4. Fredonia, 185
5. Rowan, 188
6. Penn State Behrend, 208
7. Daemon College, 223
8. Brockport, 247
9. SUNY - ESF, 265
10. Shenandoah, 288
11. Adrian, 311
12. Oneonta, 339
13. William Smith, 421
14. Hilbert College, 460
Individual Results – Laurentian Men
10. Paul Sagriff, 25:32
23. Liam Passi, 25:54
40. Caleb Beland, 26:14
98. Sam Delage, 27:21
122. Jarod Milford, 27:56
156. Gordie Chown, 28:40
173. Mika Muinonen, 29:16
Team Scores – Men
1. Geneseo, 35
2. Rowan, 81
3. Oneonta, 90
4. Brockport, 129
5. Penn State Behrend, 158
6. Rochester, 191
7. Laurentian, 194
8. Fredonia, 222
9. Shenandoah, 315
10. Daemen, 335
11. Suny- ESF
12. Hobart, 363
13. Adrian 435
14. Alfred, 445
15. Finger Lakes CC
16. Hilbert, 490
17. Villa Maria, 534
The Voyageur running squads' next race is the Marauder Bayfront XC Invitational in Hamilton on Friday October 13.