This weekend, both the men’s and women’s cross country teams competed at the NCAA Atlantic Region Cross Country Championships hosted by St. Lawrence University.
The women placed ninth out of 30 teams with 245 points. Junior Sadie Gollub and freshman Lauren Norton were selected to run in the NCAA Division III National Championships.
Gollub finished in 18th place overall with a time of 24:03.3, and Norton was just behind her in 20th place overall with a time of 24:06:4. Overall, the times in this meet were slower, but the weather caused the course to be muddy and torn to shreds by the time the race began.
Other top runners for the Yellowjackets were juniors Lisa Cole and Allie McComb, who finished in 57th and 67th, respectively.
Rounding out the top five was freshman Hillary Snyder, who finished 83rd and faced considerable adversity in the race. Within the first 400 meters of the course, another runner hit her, resulting in a large gash in Snyder’s leg. While she was able to finish the race, she was later admitted to Strong Memorial Hospital to get stitches and to be treated for an infection.
The men also raced hard this weekend. They came in at 13th overall in a field of 34 teams, with top runners freshman Jamie Vavra and sophomore Jon Pinto finishing in 57th and 61st place, respectively. None of the men were selected to run in the NCAA National Championships.
The men came out strong but faced a lot of tough competition. Vavra and Pinto were separated by just over five seconds. Senior Dan Chebot came in just 10 seconds behind Pinto, placing 74th place with a time of 27:36.2.
Sophomore Brian Lang also had a competitive race, finishing 77th with a time of 27:37.6, and freshman Jason Zayac rounded out UR’s top five with an 86th-place finish, clocking in at a time of 27:51.3.
The two women runners will finish off their season in the National Championship meet on Nov. 22. The meet will be hosted by Hanover College in Indiana.
Rogers is a member of the class of 2012.
