Mighty Oak XC Teams Get Final Tune Up Before Nationals
The ESF XC teams traveled about 50 minutes southeast to Hamilton College on Saturday October 26th to compete in the Hamilton College Tune up. The race distances were shorter than the traditional 8k (men), 6k (women). In the womens 4k race, Margaret Ryan continued her great season being the only non Hamilton runner in the top 15 with a finishing place of 9th. Ryan's time of 15:41.8 is the 5th fastest 4k in school history, and it was over a minute personal record. Tee Atwater was the 2nd in for the Mighty Oaks with a time of 16:40.7. Overall, the women finished 2nd in the team standings ahead of Morrisville St, William Smith, Keuka and SUNY POLY.
The Mighty Oak men finished 3rd in the team standings beating out Hobart, Potsdam St, SUNY POLY and Keuka. The race distance was 5k and 3 runners were able to break 17 minutes. Colin Flanery finished 10th place overall earning him a bottle of maple syrup. His time of 16:35.5 ranks 8th all time fastest XC 5k for ESF. His teammate, Korben Anderson finished just 10 seconds behind him with a time of 16:45.8 (9th all time 5k for ESF). Aidan Watts was the 3rd in for the Mighty Oaks with a time of 16:59.8. All 3 runners set personal records for XC 5k. Next up for the Mighty Oaks will be the USCAA XC National Championship in Uniontown, PA on Sunday November 10th. The Mighty Oaks men and women look to 4 peat as national champions.
Coach Melfi's Comments
This was a really good day for us and as we back off the training, it's starting to click for us. I think just about everyone set personal records. This is a meet we come to every season so it's a familar course. I was especially impressed with our women's team. Our 3 captians were not in attendance at this meet, and they are (typically in our top 5). I asked the ladies to step it up as leaders and on the the course. They certaninly did! To come out here and get a dominant 2nd place shows their grit and determination!