Complete Results

Siena kicked off its 2015 cross country season Saturday at the Marist Invitational at Vassar Farms in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. The men finished third of four teams, while the women placed fifth of five.

"It feels great to have the season started," said head coach John Kenworthy. "We learned a little bit more about ourselves today which is going to keep the momentum going as our season progresses."

The men's 6K race was comprised entirely of MAAC schools with Iona finishing first (27), followed closely by the host Red Foxes (29), then Siena (79) and Fairfield (109).

The men's top-five finishers placed within a 12-second spread with senior Nick Miller leading the pack (19:51.8) to take 15th place overall. Classmate Sal Wright (19:52.2) finished just a half second back in taking 16th and junior Nick Cornine (19:58.2), classmate Paolo Fiore (20:01.9) and senior Tom Higgins (20:04.0) placed 21st, 22nd and 23rd respectively.

"For the men the goal today was to run together in groups and continue to build on our tradition of racing well in packs," commented Kenworthy. "Our 12-second scoring spread is a definite win for us today in that regard."

The women ran an abbreviated group in the 5K race which was won by Marist and included Hofstra as well as MAAC schools Iona and Fairfield. Junior Sydney Sericolo paced the Saints in finishing 26th overall with a time of 20:35.3, while classmate Kelly Russo broke her personal record time in the 5K by nearly 15 seconds (21:45.9).

"For the women this was a good chance to set an early season baseline for the 5K," noted Kenworthy. "Some of them are already nearing last year's late season marks which was an encouraging sign. It's been a long time since a few of them have raced to due to injuries, so seeing them back on the course was a welcome sight too."

The Saints return to action next Saturday the 12th at noon for a local meet at the RPI Saratoga Invitational at Saratoga State Park.