Cross Country, Sports

Cross Country opens season with strong showing at Nassaney Invitational

The Boston University cross country program opened up the 2014 campaign on the right foot this past weekend with strong showings at the Nassaney Invitational at Bryant University in Smithfield, Rhode Island.

Coming off a season in which it captured BU’s first-ever Patriot League title, the women’s cross country team proved to be every bit as dominant on Saturday as the Terriers recorded an impressive team victory.

The Terriers were paced by junior Michelle Sumner, who placed second in the five-kilometer race with a time of 18:04.2, 11 seconds behind Jordan O’Dea of Northeastern University. The finish was the best of her cross-country career and earned her Patriot League Runner of the Week honors.

Sumner was one of three Terriers in the top 10, as sophomore Sarah Saccoach (18:27.3) and junior Shelby Stableford (18:34.5) finished sixth and seventh respectively.

All of BU’s scorers were within the top 20: sophomore Hallie Armstrong finished 13th with a time of 18:51.6, and sophomore Felicia Sciortino placed 17th with a time of 18:57.4. Junior Rachel Lottermann also placed in the top 20, finishing 19th overall in 19:04.3.

The Terriers’ 45-point performance put them firmly ahead of second place finishers Boston College, who posted a score of 61 points.

In addition, junior Erin Pierce (23rd, 19:15.1), freshman Alexandra Osman (31st, 19:34.5), freshman Paige Ferrucci (59th, 20:54.0) and freshman Gabrielle DiRenzo (61st, 21:06.3) all competed for the Terriers.

The men’s team finished second overall, with junior Paul Gennaro finishing third individually with a time of 15:41.5, more than 37 seconds faster than his time on the course last year. Senior Ben Ravetz placed fifth with a time of 15:54.1.

Senior Stuart Ross (16:18.9) placed 13th and junior Alec Olson (16:27.5) was 18th, while sophomore Matti Groll placed 22nd with a time of 16:37.2 to finish out the team scoring.

BU’s solid performance still found them 37 points behind first place Northeastern University, who dominated the competition with six runners finishing in the top-10.

Sophomore Ethan Homan finished 25th in 16:43 and freshman James Paige placed 28th with a time of 16:45.4. Senior John McKeon (39th, 16:52.2), senior Matt Solomon (41st, 16:56.1), junior Syian Srikumar (48th, 17:12.1), freshman Liam O’Connell (53rd, 17:17.1) and senior Zach Marriott (66th, 17:42.9) also finished the race.

BU next travels on Sept. 27 to New Britain, Connecticut, for the Ted Owen Invitational.

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