COLONIE, NY – Both the Siena men's & women's cross country team shined on their home grass Saturday morning, taking home first and second, respectively, at the second annual Siena Cross Country Invitational, held at The Crossings at Colonie in Colonie, New York.
Helping the men to land a top finish for the fourth consecutive season, senior captain Evans Kibet took home first place in the men's 5K by nearly an 11-second margin, posting a 25:53.6 on the site of last year's MAAC Cross Country Championships.
The Nandi Hills, Kenya native was the first of four Siena men's runners to land inside the top-10 in the race with freshman Aidan Gillooley (26:22.1), sophomore Owen Walker (26:25.6) and junior Aidan Canavan (26:41.3) taking fifth, sixth and 10th place, respectively.
The men's squad finished with an average time of 26:49, besting MAAC foe Rider by nearly 20 seconds, while landing an score of 34 overall. Fellow conference counterpart Marist took home third place, while local competitors Albany, Union and Saint Rose followed behind.
On the women's end, the Saints could not take down heavyweight Marist, who boasted six runners in the individual top-10 and finished with a score of 23 and an average time of 18:47.
Helping the Saints to finish just a point ahead of cross-town foe Albany was sophomore Olivia Lomascolo, who steadiest the squad with an eighth-place finish of 19:10.3. Freshmen Elaine Atanasova and Sophia Vinciguerra gave the Saints a strong underclassmen showing in the race, taking home 11th and 12th place, respectively with times of 19:18.0 and 19:18.6.
Following their second event of the Fall 2019 season, both Siena cross country teams will be in action next Saturday, September 21 at the Henry Mercer Monmouth Invitational in Holmdel, New Jersey.
