SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. – Four Southern Vermont College cross country members competed in the Mt. Holyoke College Invitational on Saturday as individual participants.
The men's side was represented by sophomore Victor Velazquez (Los Angeles, Calif.), freshman Cameron Cutriss (Milton, Vt.) and freshman Kenneth Poteat (Yonkers, N.Y.) while freshman Haley Omasta (Danbury, Conn.) was the lone women's cross country runner to partake.
South Hadley, Mass. bore great weather for fast times on the track with temperatures in the mid-50's, the sunshine unhindered and low-speed winds.
Omasta was the first SVC member to run, participating in the 1500 meter race. Despite coming off a three-week string of illness that spanned the school's spring break, she made great splits while finishing in 6:21. She plans to drop time in next week's event as she is returning to full health.
In the men's 1500 meter, Velazquez and Poteat ran smart races in the first heat and finished strongly. Velazquez pulled up to the leader going into the final 200 meters of the race, however dropped to finish third in his heat, 13th overall, with a time of 4:33 after running out of gas in the final straightaway. Poteast finished 21st overall with a 5:12 time.
The women's 800 meter race saw Omasta also achieve solid split times while getting used to getting back at full pace. After finishing in seventh place in her respective heat, she was 30th overall for the event at 3:03.
Poteat then ran in the 200 meters, something not common for cross country runners. He led after an explosive start through the first 50 meters, however faded towards the latter end of the race to finish third in the heat, seventh overall, with a time of 24.63 seconds.
The final race for the Mountaineers saw Velazuez and Curtiss in the 5000 meter, an event more in the comfort zone for the SVC runners. Both Southern Vermont participants ran much quicker splits than those from the fall season. Velazquez finished in 17:27, second place overall, and Curtiss ran an 18:54; that time averages to just over six minutes per mile, however he was able to turn it on in the last mile for a 5:46 split.
The next track meet for the Mountaineer runners is Saturday at the Jim Shehan Memorial Track Meet being hosted by Fitchburg State University.