RANDOLPH CENTER, Vt. – The Southern Vermont College men's and women's cross country teams participated in the Three Stallion Invitational, hosted by Vermont Technical College on Saturday, and saw a great amount of success from both squads.
Mountaineer freshman Alice Lala (Biddesford, Maine) out-sprinted Claire Simmons (Glen Head, N.Y.) of Mass College of Liberal Arts to finish fourth overall on the women's side with a time of 23:57 in the 5K race. Green Mountain College's Dakota Van Tine (Four Season, Mo.) led all female runners with a 22:45. Green Mountain finished first overall in the team placing, while the Mountaineers were third.
Leading the way for SVC on the men's side was freshman Joshua Ceasar (Bardstown, Ky.) who finished third overall out of 32 runners on the 8K course with a time of 29:45. That time is good enough for 8th all-time for SVC runners. He was less than a minute behind the first-place finisher, Anthony Cancilla (Pittsfield, Mass.) from MCLA. The Mountaineers finished third as a team, while Mass College of Liberal Arts finished first out of the groups participating.
The meet was run on a course that stretched mostly across a golf course with a tough half-mile climb and about a mile across trails. The temperature was perfect for running, however strong winds caused occasional difficulties.
Coach Maria Stuber was proud of her team, saying, "Our squad performed very well today. It was like a whole different team from last week. After the Smith Invite we sat down and made a list of things we needed to do better. Today, I saw positive changes across the board."
For the women, freshman Haley Omasta (Danbury, Conn.) was 9th overall with a 24:50, and Loni Masiero (Wallkill, N.Y.) was 12th with a time of 25:52. Newcomer Shante Ramieres (Rutland, Vt.) and Mai Deo (Manchester, N.H.) rounded out the Mountaineers' top-five in 25th and 26th, respectively.
On the men's side, sophomore captain Victor Velasquez (Los Angeles, Calif.) was just 12 seconds off his fastest time ever, finishing in 12th with a 33:03. Hesbon Ogeka (Windom, Minn.), Kenneth Poteat (Yonkers, N.Y.) and Cameron Curtiss (Milton, Mass.) rounded out the Mountaineers top five on the day with 17th, 20th and 26th place finishes, respectively.
SVC's next meet comes Saturday, the 22nd, when it hosts the Mountaineer Invitational on the school's campus. The women will start at around 11 a.m. with the men's race beginning at approximately 12 p.m.