LEOMINSTER, Mass. - Senior Mia Rogers (North Dighton, Mass.) and junior Elisabeth Olson (Wilmington, Mass.) finished third and fourth respectively on the women's side, highlighting a strong showing from the Worcester State University men's and women's cross country teams at Saturday's Jim Sheehan Invitational.
The Lancer women's team won the nine-team event with a total of 41 points, narrowly edging out second place Springfield College, who finished with 42 points. The men finished in third place out of nine, compiling 83 points.
The top-five finishes from Rogers (19:35) and Olson (19:37) proved vital as the defending MASCAC champions opened their season showing no signs of rust. Freshman Ryann Molinari (Grafton, Mass.) impressed in her first collegiate race, finishing eighth overall with a time of 20:22. Kyra Siano (North Attleboro, Mass.) and Kelsey Bedard (Leominster, Mass.) finished 15th and 16th respectively to round out the top five finishers for the Lancers.
It was a youth movement for the Worcester State men on Saturday, as each of the top six Lancer runners were freshman. Patrick Carleton (Tewksbury, Mass.) was the leading Lancer Saturday, finishing his first collegiate race with a time of 27:16 in the 8k to finish seventh. Following just strides behind Carleton was fellow freshman Drew Fottler (Chelmsford, Mass.), who ran a 27:21. Rounding out the five Worcester State scorers were Masato Terajima (Holden, Mass., 15th, 28:05), Colin Brennan (Newbury, Mass., 24th, 29:42), and Tim Mahoney (Townsend, Mass., 29th, 29:42).
Both the men's and women's cross country teams will be back in action next Saturday when they head to Paxton for the Worcester City Meet at Moore State Park.