YUTA SUZUKI
NORTH DARTMOUTH – The Westfield State men’s cross country team placed six runners in the top 50 en route to a fourth-place team finish at the 33-team UMass-Dartmouth Invitational on Saturday.
American International and Stonehill, two NCAA Division II institutions, placed first and third respectively. Second place Connecticut College (2nd overall) was the lone NCAA Division III institution to finish ahead of the Owls.
Westfield State senior Derik Noland (Silver Lake/Kingston, Mass.) finished seventh to lead the Owls, in a time of 25:24.48 over the 8,000 meter course on the UMass Dartmouth campus.
A tight grouping among the Owls next five runners was the other key to the strong team performance. Yuta Suzuki scored in the 40th position in 26:41.36, followed by Tim Forrest (42), Brandon LeClair (44), Connor Gottzman (47) and Patrick Brett (50), with just 10 seconds separating the group.
In the sub-varsity race, Westfield’s entry placed fifth among 14 teams, led by Andrew Simons in eighth place in 27:19.61.
Westfield will next compete at the Paul Short Invitational meet at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa. on October 1.
OWLS’ CARDIN SECOND FOR WOMEN: Junior Jessie Cardin (Sutton, Mass.) raced to a second place finish in the individual race, helping the Westfield State women’s cross country team to an eighth place finish at the 37-team UMass-Dartmouth Invitational on Saturday.
Cardin traversed the 5,000 meter course in a time of 17:43.24, finishing two seconds behind Pascalin Jerotich of American International College, an NCAA Division II school.
Westfield State senior Ashley Monahan (Agawam/Springfield, Mass.) was the next finisher for the Owls, placing 31st in 19:13.57.
AUTUMN BROWN
Andrea Noland in 66th, Lauren Izabel in 89th and Mary Dignan in 118th wrapped up the Owls scoring runners.
Brandeis University won the team title with a score of 99, followed by Division 2 Stonehill (111) and Trinity (137). Westfield totaled 304 points, in finishing 8th, one point ahead of Keene State.
In the sub-varsity race, Westfield’s squad took fourth place, with five runners finishing in the top 20, paced by Autumn Brown’s 14th place finish in 20:41.58. Lindsay Stoldt, Jenn Asci, Taylor Surrette and Molly Lewis all scored in the top 20.
Westfield will next compete at the Paul Short Invitational meet at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa. on October 1. – Courtesy of Westfield State University Sports
