Photo Courtesy of Jamie Chagnon
By Tre Shuttlesworth, Staff Writer
The Susquehanna cross-country teams continued a strong start to the 2021 season as both teams placed within the top four at the Dickinson Long Short Invitational on Saturday, September 25.
The finishes helped achieve goals for the program last weekend set out by Head Cross-Country Coach Jeremiah Clinchoc. The hope for each team was to finish in the top six for a program with a fair amount of inexperienced players at a collegiate level.
“Of our 30 athletes that competed on Saturday, this is the first college season for 20 of them. All of our sophomores didn’t compete [last season] due to the pandemic,” Clinchoc said.
A strong showing at the Dickinson Long Short Invitational showed consistency across the day, as the men’s team participated in a four kilometer race and eight kilometer race, and the women’s team ran in a four kilometer race and a six kilometer race.
“Our team handled it very well. I actually like early season meets like this because it allows our athletes to support one another since not everyone is in the same race,” said Clinchoc.
The women’s team would round out the podium with a third place showing out of the 32 competing teams while the men’s team placed 4th out of 29 participating schools.
Consistency across the races would earn the women’s team the podium placing, as the team placed fifth in the short race and seventh in the long race.
Junior Kallan Carter led the way for the women’s team in the short race with an eighth overall time of 15:40.54. Senior Marissa Kleman also had a strong showing in the event as she placed 16th with a time of 16:10.67.
The River Hawks were led in the women’s long race by first-year Emma Myers who finished with a time of 24:37.47 in 14th-place overall. First-year Rebekah Jones would also impress with a time of 25:42.57, good enough for a 32nd-place showing.
The podium effort for the women’s team comes off a fifth-place finish at the September 17 Moravian Invitational and runner-up showing at the September 3 Misericordia Invitational.
The fourth-place overall finish for the men’s team came as a result of a fifth-place result in the short race and an eighth-place finish in the long race. The short race was commanded by senior Jack Warehime as he placed ninth in the event with a time of 12:52.23. Warehime’s four kilometer pace was effective enough to become the fourth best time for the Susquehanna program in a four kilometer event. Junior Shane Urban would also impress with a time of 13:43.
First-year Terence Grenda was the quickest River Hawk in the long race, as time of 27:54.05 put him in 11th overall. Junior John Sabella went on to snag 20th-place with a time of 28:15.38.
The fourth-place finish continues a strong start for the men’s River Hawks. The team finished fifth at the September 17 Moravian Invitational and won the season-opening Misericordia Invitational on September 3.
Heading into the upcoming Paul Short Run, the River Hawks are slated to face one of the biggest tests of the season so far as they compete against numerous regionally and nationally-ranked Division Three programs.
“This will be the first time where our top ten runners for both teams will get to go out and just race the competition without being told to hold back in the first half,“ Clinchoc said. “If we can leave Friday with a top 15 finish amongst our competitors for both teams, that would be phenomenal!”
The River Hawks cross-country teams continue their season Friday, October 1 with a visit to Bethlehem, Pa. for the Paul Short Run hosted by Lehigh University.