COBLESKILL, N.Y. – The SUNYIT Men's Cross Country Team gave some different runners an opportunity to shine at the Steven A. Warde Cross Country Invitational on Saturday.
After being the Wildcats' top-finisher a week ago, senior leader Cody Russell (Fonda, N.Y. / Fonda) took the 5-mile race off. This allowed freshman Andrew Jeselson (Rome, N.Y. / Rome) a chance to shine and he took it, leading the Wildcats in 21st place (19th-place points) and a time 33:31.
Right behind him was Jordan Sirtoli (West Winfield, N.Y. / Mt. Markham). The SUNYIT graduate student jogged last week's SUNYIT Short Course Invitational, but took the governor off at Cobleskill to finish almost even with Jeselson (22nd place, 33:32).
The pair was followed by another relative newcomer, Wildcat rookie Luke Sanders (Rochester, N.Y. / Greece-Arcadia). Sanders finished in 28th place with a time of 35:14.
Rounding out the scoring five not far behind Sanders were senior Joseph Maldonado (Montgomery, N.Y. / Valley Central) and freshman Tyler McKane (Clayville, N.Y. / Mount Markham).
The Wildcats finished fifth in the small-field race. Taking home first was Utica College, who swept the top 5 spots and finished with a perfect 15 team points.
SUNYIT no doubt held back on Saturday in preparation for the Gallaudet Invitational this upcoming Saturday, a precursor to the NEAC Championship which the Bison will also host in November. This weekend's race is scheduled for 12:00 pm.