“Ladies and gentlemen: We’re closing in on championship season very quickly and its more important now than ever to focus on the task at hand,” said Coach Andrew Weishaar. All season, the cross country teams of Rensselaer have been slowly working toward preparing themselves for two final races at the state and regional meets. This past Saturday was a perfect test run for both the men and women as they hosted the Saratoga Cross Country Invitational at Saratoga Spa State Park.
Out of the thirteen teams present in the invitational, the men placed fifth with a score of 120 points. This finish next to St. Lawrence proves that the Liberty League title the Red Hawks won last month was not a fluke.
Saturday was also a highlight for the men because 22 male competitors set season bests or personal record times. Furthermore, this may be the beginning of a strong future of Rensselaer distance running. This season, Rensselaer’s top six harriers across the finish line had faster times than RPI’s first runner in the same race last year.
Freshman Conor Murphy had another exceptional race, leading the way for the Red Hawks for the second week in a row. Murphy finished 16th overall in the race with a time of 26:27. Close behind Murphy was freshman Bryan Murphy. For Byran Murphy, this race showed that he did not miss a beat after rehabilitating an injured leg during the previous week.
The women’s squad finished eighth out of thirteen teams with 229 points. Racing at Saratoga allowed them to close the gap on rival Vassar and RIT. Freshman Cathy Malloy returned to the team this week and led the way for the women. Malloy finished 29th with a time of 19:27 for the 3.05 mile course. Malloy helped pace her teammate, junior Julia Moore to a 30th place finish and a personal best time of 19:36.
With the upcoming week off, the Red Hawks will be able to focus on the next task at hand, which is preparing for the state meet at Hamilton College on November 5. In preparation for the state meet, the runners will be completing their final workouts of the season and resting.
