The Boston University cross country team kicked off its season on Saturday with a strong showing on a humid day at the Bryant University Invitational in Smithfield, R.I.
“First meets, you have to wait and see what happens,” said BU coach Bruce Lehane. “Sometimes you get bizarre results.”
But the results were anything but bizarre as the men showed continued dominance from last season and took home the team victory.
Senior Matt Paulson finished first overall in the men’s eight-kilometer race with a time of 25:25.1, the second straight year a Terrier has taken home an individual title at the meet.
Senior Robert Gibson was close behind, finishing second with a time of 25:44.2.
Senior Michael Caputo finished 12th with a time of 26:27.7, and freshmen Kevin Thomas (17th, 26:36.9) and Alec Olson (21st, 26:45.2) excelled in their collegiate debuts.
“I thought [Paulson and Gibson] were very strong,” Lehane said. “At a personal level, I thought that [Caputo] did very well and our freshmen, Kevin Thomas and Alec Olson, did a good job stepping up too.”
The men finished with a total of 53 points, cruising to a 15-point victory over second-place Northeastern.
The women also showed positive signs for this season, finishing eighth out of 17 teams with a point total of 188 in the five-kilometer race.
They were led by freshman Shelby Stableford, who finished 19th with a time of 18:57.1 in her first collegiate race, and junior Danielle Bowen, who placed 26th with a time of 19:05.4. Senior Nikki Long (42nd, 19:34.2), freshman Erin Pierce (43rd, 19:34.8), and sophomore Ashli Tagoai (58th, 20:05.3) rounded out the scoring for BU.
Harvard took home the team victory in the women’s race with a team score of 27.
Coach Lehane said he was pleased with Stableford’s performance.
“I thought it was very good for a first-timer,” Lehane said “Through high school, she’s been at a very steady level since her sophomore year, and she’s continued that success.”
The Terriers were missing one of their top runners, junior Monica Adler, who is recovering from injury, but she should be available for the next meet.
Lehane says he believes that Adler’s return will elevate the women to even further success.
“We knew going into it that we have some good runners,” Lehane said. “At this point, we have to get five runners functioning at a high level.”
The runners will look to continue their success at their next meet, which will take place on Sept. 14 at the University of New Hampshire Invitational in Durham, N.H.
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