By Alex Kurtz, Sports Editor
The Susquehanna men’s and women’s cross-country seasons opened with strong performances on both sides at the Bucknell Open in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.
The top overall performance for the River Hawks came from junior Ciaran Fisher, who placed eighth overall with a 19:45 time in the 6k. Sophomore Erin Reese was the top overall finisher for the women’s team with a ninth-place finish and a 15:06 time in the 4k.
Fisher improved 12 spots from the year before and was able to drop 41 seconds off of his previous time of 15:47.
Reese was also able to drop nine spots from the year prior, when she placed 18th during her freshman campaign.
Senior Kailyn Reilly also improved her placement from her junior campaign, jumping up five spots.
The women’s team had seven people finish top 30 overall, while the men’s team had six finish in the top 30.
For the women, Reilly was the second-highest finisher, placing 13th with a time of 15:30, and senior Hannah Stauffer was the third with a 17th-place finish and a finish time of 15:54.
Sophomore Emily Eck placed 21st with a time of 17:03, and the next three run- ners: senior Anna Trapane, sophomore Alexa Pietrini and junior Torry Dugan, finished 27th, 29th and 30th respectively to round out the top-30 finishers for the River Hawks.
The men’s team also had strong performances on the day, with the five runners after Fisher placing between 19-27.
Senior Eric Pressler was the second-overall finisher for the men’s team with a 19th-place finish and a time of 20:57, while senior Kyle Skelton was right behind him in 23rd place with a time of 21:27.
Sophomore Brandon Sorge was the next finisher for the River Hawks in 25th, and was followed by the duo of freshman Jake Menchey and freshman Leonard Bolinisky, who placed 26th and 27th. The three runners finished within 24 seconds of each other.
Susquehanna looks to prove people wrong this season on the men’s side after being placed fifth out of eight in the preseason poll behind Elizabethtown, Juniata, Moravian and Scranton.
Both teams will run again on Saturday, Sept. 9 at the Juniata Invitational. The event will begin at 10 a.m.
