By Nate Owen
The men’s and women’s cross country teams competed last Friday at the Quinnipiac Invitational in Hamden, Conn. Both teams placed fifth in their respective races.
The men’s race included Quinnipiac, Connecticut, Marist, Brown, New Haven, Rhode Island (URI) and Hartford. Northeastern finished with 150 points, ahead of New Haven, URI and Hartford.
Top performers for the men included Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Runner of the Week, junior Tom Brown, who led Northeastern and finished tenth overall with a time of 26:59. Sophomore Ricky Fendorak came in second for the Huskies and 40th overall with a time of 28:35.
In the women’s race, the Huskies competed against Quinnipiac, Marist, URI, Brown, Wagner College, Hartford and New Haven. NU concluded the race with 123 points, ahead of Wagner, Hartford and New Haven.
The Huskies were paced by their top three runners: sophomores Kristie Gagnon and Brittany Moriarty and senior Amy Hicks. Gagnon finished sixth overall with a time of 19:12, while Moriarty placed ninth with a time of 19:19. Hicks placed 18th with a time of 19:48. Gagnon was named the CAA Runner of the Week.
While the results for both teams were similar to the previous week, coach Sherman Hart said both showed some improvements from the previous week.
“The course [last week] was much tougher, but [there was] some really good improvement,” he said.
Hart said the men’s team was really coming along as a group. He mentioned the progress of sophomores Brian Kennedy and Bryan Brunelli as examples.
“The key to winning is to be able to bunch together as a group,” Hart said. “As long as the bunch is going, things [will be] OK.”
While the men’s team was performing well as a group, he said the top three (Gagnon, Moriarty and Hicks), had separated themselves from the rest of the women’s team.
“We still have to get up to speed,” Hart said of the rest of the women’s team.
Several athletes were recovering from injuries and others were still trying to get acclimated, he said.
The Huskies are off next week, but will compete in the New England Championship, held Oct. 7 at Franklin Park.
