SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Southern Vermont cross country teams took back to competition after taking last week off, participating well at the 2012 Western New England Golden Bear Invitational. The women's side finished 19th out of the 23 teams running on Saturday, while the men placed 17th out of 21.
The women were led by freshman Alice Lala (Biddesford, Maine) who finished 64th with a personal-best time of 21:36.00; that places her fourth all-time for Mountaineer women in a 5K race. Freshman Haley Omasta (Danbury, Conn.) was close behind, finishing 71st at 21:43.44. Omasta's finish ranks her tied for fifth on the SVC all-time list.
Senior captain Loni Masiero (Wallkill, N.Y) ran a season-best 24:00.06, only five seconds off her personal-best from a year ago. Freshman Casey Geary (Bradford, R.I.) ran a personal-best 27:32.97, dropping five minutes off her previously best time. Sophomore Shante Ramires (Rutland, Vt.) fought through a cold to run a personal-best 28:41.03 to round out the Mountaineers' top five.
Freshman Joshua Ceasar (Bardstown, Ky.) led the way for the men's team with a personal-best time of 27:41.59. That places him second all-time for a Southern Vermont runner. He finished the Invitational 18th in the 204-runner field.
Senior captain Victor Velazquez (Los Angeles, Calif.) ran the 8K course 3:01 faster than he did in 2011, finishing Saturday with a time of 30:22.84 (111th). That time gets him on the all-time SVC list at 10th. Sophomore Hesbon Ogeka (Windom, Minn.) was not far behind, finishing 123rd at 31:15.69. Freshmen Kenneth Poteat (Yonkers, N.Y.) and Cameron Curtiss (Milton, Vt.) rounded out the Mountaineers' top five, finishing 32:48.97 and 34:39.25, respectively.
The weather was extremely cooperative with the sun shining and 60 degree temperatures being ideal for running. It was one of the biggest meets for the Mountaineers, as more than 20 teams and over 200 runners participated on each side.
SVC head coach Maria Stuber commented that, "We have run on some really hard courses this year. I have been watching how hard these athletes have been working the past six weeks and how fast they have been running in workouts. I knew we were a lot fitter than the results have been showing, and I'm thrilled that we got a chance to show it today."
The Mountaineers will take a week off from competition and prepare for the New England Collegiate Conference Championships, being held October 27 at Wheelock College in Boston, Mass.