Rookies, Veterans Combine to Produce Solid Team Finishes

Boasting a mix of experience and youth, the men’s and women’s cross country teams ran against hard competition in the annual Brooks Paul Short Run on Friday in Bethlehem, Pa. The men’s team finished 12th out of 41 teams, while the women placed 10th out of 47.

In the men’s eight-kilometer race, the large field and 270 participating athletes forced the Crimson runners to push their limits.

Coach Jason Saretsky stated that many of his athletes reported their best times ever in college.

“I was pleased,” Saretsky said. “It was a good step.”

Undaunted by the large numbers, the men’s team competed strongly and nearly attained its goal of a top-10 finish amidst tough competitors.

Finishing 33rd with a time of 24:53, senior Andrew Lipkin lead the men’s team, with sophomore teammate Chas Gillespie finishing soon after at 25:01 and in 40th. Three seconds later, freshman Dan Chenoweth crossed the line at 25:04, earning 43rd.

With a pair of strong runners missing due to injury, other members of the men’s squad stepped up.

“It’s not worth it to put [the injured players] out there,” Saretsky said. “Be conservative. Mix and match the lineups—figure out the best team towards the end. It was an opportunity for the other runners to become stronger, more experienced, sharper.”

Freshman Ryan Neely finished next at 107th, while sophomores Bobby Kenney and Vito Cannavo were 143rd and 152nd, respectively.

In the women’s race, another set of quality performances from freshmen set the tone for the team.

“[The freshmen] were definitely a really important part of the team,” said freshman Renata Cummins, who competed in the junior varsity race. “We wouldn’t have placed so high without them. The team kept moving up throughout the race and it was one of the first 6k’s we had ever run.

“That really means something, to start out strong and finish stronger,” she added.

“They went out a bit conservative but ran well as a group,” Saretsky said of the women’s team.

The women achieved their goal of placing within the top 10 teams of the invitation.

Finishing 43rd in the women’s six-kilometer race was freshman Claire Richardson at 21:39. Freshman Jamie Olson followed soon after at 21:49, earning 53rd. Seniors Lauren Walker and Sarah Bourne were 81st and 83rd, respectively, with both finishing at 22:18.

Cleaning up for the Crimson women were sophomore Caitlin Clifford (103rd), sophomore Stacy Carlson (109th), and freshman Eliza Ives (112th).

Also of note was the performance of Cummins, who placed ninth in the women’s junior varsity race and clocked in at 22:24—a time that would have placed her among Harvard’s top five varsity runners.

“With so many runners, there a lot more people to use up front,” Cummins said. “It feels more demoralizing, but it’s nice to have people to run with throughout the race. The big race made it hard to run as a tight pack, but the team managed.”

Top individual honors at the invitational went to Villanova’s Bobby Curtis, who crossed the line at 23:39 on the men’s side, and Sally Kipyego of Texas Tech, who finished at 19:59 in the women’s race.

Villanova also finished first in the men’s standings, while Princeton claimed first in the women’s race.