Senior Julia Caputo and sophomore Collin Brown showed out among the best runners in the field and the Siena Men's and Women's Cross-Country teams put forth their strongest performance of the fall season at the IC4A/ECAC Cross Country Championships held at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx on Friday morning. 

The Siena men (211) finished eighth out of 24 teams who competed in the field, beating out the likes of top competitors such as Wagner (226), UMBC (252), Stonehill (274), Fordham (339), Yale (348), Lafayette (354), Marist (387), Seton Hall (453), Monmouth (529), Fairfield (569), NJIT (586), Mount St. Mary's (621), Quinnipiac (635), FDU (638), LIU (646) and St. Peter's (772). 

Only George Mason (61), Harvard (73), Bucknell (117), Colgate (136), St. Joseph's Pa. (141), American (163), Lehigh (173) finished ahead of the Saints. 

"We talked about being a 'second half team'—meaning we start conservatively and run our race the second half. If you look at the results, our entire team had forward momentum during the race. Collin Brown ran phenomenally and finished ninth overall—an incredible finish for his first IC4A championship," said second-year Siena Cross Country head coach Elizabeth DeBole.

"Killian [McNamee] is coming off less than ideal training the last couple weeks and put together a very strong showing. The next pack of men ran TOGETHER. They helped one another out, keyed off one another, and really ran a strong team race at the end. We were the only team to move up three spots in the team standings over the course of the day."

Brown clocked in at 24:47.8 in the men's 8K while McNamee, a senior, timed at 25:01.4 to place 22^nd overall among the 269 male competitors. 

On the women's side, the Siena Women (215) placed seventh among 20 teams.  Only Yale (53), Bucknell (103), UMass Amherst (109), George Mason (157), Lehigh (160) and Monmouth (200) finished ahead of the Saints. 

Siena was ahead such teams as Wagner (261), Fordham (268), Seton Hall (301), St. Joseph's Pa (307), Harvard (323), UMBC (327), Stonehill (337), Fairfield (337), Colgate (360), American (377), Lafayette (481), Mount St. Mary's (611), and NJIT (663). 

"The women also put together their best team race of the season," coach DeBole added. "Julia Caputo ran a phenomenal race up front to finish fifth overall.  The group as a whole had a very strong showing—most ran their best race of the season. We have talked as a team about running FOR one another, taking the individual out and focusing on doing your job for each portion of the race. That's what we executed today and we are really excited!"

Caputo's time of 21:12.4 was about seven seconds off her personal-best finishing time at the Jasper Invite earlier this fall.  Claire Gardner, also a senior, clocked in at 21:49.4 to finish just inside the Top-30 at 29^th overall out of 258 competitors. 

Siena will ramp up one more time before the MAAC Championships when it competes in the CCSU Mini-Meet next Friday, October 25 in New Britain, CT beginning at 4 p.m. at Stanley Quarter Park.