Knight Invite!

What an unbelievable great day we had. In almost every occasion when a team goes to a meet there is something that could be better that you cannot control. A late start time, weather, bad course, or many other harsh conditions are things we as runners have to overcome on race day. It is part of the sport and a part of what makes cross country runners special in their ability to go beyond their obstacles and still achieve their goals. However, every once in a blue moon conditions are perfect for a cross country race.

In the men’s top 5 alone a total of six minutes and 54 seconds (6:54) was taken of their previous combined 8k personal records! Their performance alone was enough to stun me until I realized that our 6^th, 7^th, and 8^th man were right on their heels (Two of which were freshmen, James Rynes/Alex Simon). It is funny to think our men’s team has been quickly shoved into the “rebuilding” category in the country even giving our talent and consistent improvement for our teams. Polls will be polls, and things outside of our control will get zero attention from our team. If we continue to work hard our men’s team can achieve their goals this year. With the quickly improving pack, our 5-9 men are stepping their game up every day to keep our program history alive.

Kristina Martin & Alex Opsitnik cheering on our men's team.

The Lady Gators were once again led by sophomore Kristina Martin. Her physical conditioning and great race conditions combined help her complete the fastest female gator time in history (17:54) on the Calvin Course. The previous best for a Lady Gator was by Mia Symoniak (09’) with a time of 18:11. Kristina finished 4^th only to women who have in previous season had been cross country and track & field All-American’s.  Our freshmen standout Andy Sharfman also had an impressive showing at the Knight Invite. Although she took the race out harder than normal and did her best to stay up with the front pack, which I have no doubt she will be there soon enough, she faded back slightly in the last 1k of the race. I couldn’t be more proud of the women’s team right now. They are a team that is battling through injuries and illnesses and still proving to put up great times and results. Much respect ladies.

Lady Gators

Bill Sudeck Classic

What an awesome start to the season! The men win their opening meet of the year and the women have the top overall finisher (Kristina Martin). On what seemed to be the hottest day of the year I was impressed with our teams ability to overcome the conditions and compete well.

On Monday after the race senior Pat McLaughlin was awarded with NCAC Runner of the Week for his performance in the 6k. Pat was the top finisher for our team, 2^nd overall, with a total time of 20:20. The top 5 pack of the men included Pat, Bobby Over, Kevin Edwards, Mike Vlah, and Jack Denison. It was great to see Jack make a huge step forward after a long off season of training. It is people like Jack that put in the hard work over the summer that make our team special.

The ladies top five consisted of event winner Kristina Martin, Andy Sharfman, Sara Mitrano, Kelly Gallager, and Amber Wetzel. Freshman Andy Sharfman is starting off as one of the fastest freshmen we have ever seen here at Allegheny. She is an extremely calm and smart racer and the ladies team couldn’t be happier to have her aboard.