Geoff Schneider

Cross Country Heads East For Harry F. Anderson Invitational On Saturday

9/22/2023 11:00:00 AM

By: CONTACT: Mary Margaret Johnson, Assistant Athletics Communications Director | mmjohnso@daemen.edu

BACK AT IT
The Daemen University men's and women's cross country teams head eastbound on I-90 to Rochester on Saturday to run in the Harry F. Anderson Invitational hosted by Roberts Wesleyan University. The highest the Wildcat men have ever placed at the Harry F. Anderson Invitational is 5th place (2008, 2009). The women placed third twice (2015, 2016) at the race.

A LOOK BACK AT LAST WEEK
Both the men's and women's teams finished atop the podium last Saturday at the Daemen Alumni Invitational. The Wildcat women placed seven runners in the top-10 to win their first race of the season. The Wildcats were led by fifth year Hannah Thomas (Cheektowaga, N.Y.) for the second straight race as she finished third overall with a PR 5K time of 19:28.9. Senior Camryn Bailey (Geneva, N.Y.) placed fourth out of 20 runners for a PR time of 19:34.4. Sophomore Patsy Oberholzer (Greece, N.Y.) placed sixth with a time of 20:31.7, just ahead of junior Emma Cain (Lockport, N.Y.) with a seventh-place time of 20:53.6. Sophomore Hayley Pizur (Grand Island, N.Y.) rounded out the Daemen scoring with an eighth place finish at 22:42.6. The Wildcat men dominated the field of three teams on Saturday, placing the top nine runners in the race to finish with a perfect 15 team score. Senior Jon Moote (Wilson, N.Y.) paced the field of 19 runners with a first place time of 27:33.0, while senior Connor O'Brien (Hamburg, N.Y.) finished second overall at 27:40.0, just ahead of freshman CJ Johnson (Baltimore, Md.) who placed third with a time of 27:49.8 in his first career 8K. Sophomore Aidan Kincaid (Orchard Park, N.Y.) placed fourth overall at 28:14.7. Freshman Ethan Keating (Wooster, Ohio) rounded out the scoring for the Wildcats with a fifth place time of 28:33.2 in his first career 8K.

WEEKLY AWARDS
For the second time this season, three Wildcats were honored in the ECC weekly awards. Thomas earned ECC Women's Runner of the Week for the second time this season, Moote picked up his first 2023 ECC Men's Runner of the Week, while Johnson was named the ECC Men's Rookie of the Week for the second time this year.

REGIONAL RANKINGS
The Daemen women are ranked seventh in the East Region, as released on Tuesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) in the second weekly regional rankings. The East Region consists of the top 10 teams from the East Coast Conference, the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference, and the Northeast-10 Conference. The Wildcats moved up a spot after being ranked eighth in last week's poll. Following a pair of second-place finishes at the 2022 ECC Championships last season, the Daemen women were selected second in the ECC Preseason Coaches Poll coming into the 2023 campaign, while the men were picked third in the conference.

UP NEXT
The Wildcats have a week off before running in the Highlander Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 7 in Houghton, N.Y. In last season's Highlander Invitational, the women finished first out of nine teams, while the men finished third. Moote set the Daemen 8K record time of 25:30.1 with his first-place finish.

Daemen University features the premier NCAA Division II athletics program in the Buffalo-Niagara region, sponsoring 17 intercollegiate teams. For the latest information on Daemen Athletics, follow the Wildcats via social media on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, or sign up to receive customizable news alerts, e-mail newsletters and weekly schedule alerts.

Follow the Daemen University cross country/track and field program on Twitter and Instagram at @DaemenXCTF.

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