Paul Short invite

As September switches into October, the Retrievers will open up with what Coach Matt Gittermann terms, “the real season” as the men’s and women’s cross country teams head up to Lehigh University for the Paul Short Invite. “Being only a month away from the Conference meet and having had a larger training block underneath us, this is really their first opportunity to really get after it,” explained Gittermann. The men have already began the season with a bang with Eric Schuler winning at the Pre-Conference meet and Hassan Omar following that up with the fourth fastest time in school history at the Navy Invite. Add in sub-25 minute runners from last year in Brandan McGee, Tommy Eldridge, and Jake Albino; along with the fast improving Redatu Semeon, Austin Hayslett, Andy Smith and impact freshmen Pat Duboyce and Jon Luckin, and you have what Gittermann is referring to as “a recipe for one of the most impressive performances in school history.” The women are coming off arguably the fastest race in school history having had more runners under 23 minutes than ever before and four of the top ten performances of all time at 6,000 meters. Nicole Dawson led the way for the second consecutive meet with a massive personal best time, while Cody Mezebish narrowly missed out joining Dawson under twenty-two minutes. Julie Gessler and Sarah Daly also ran faster than ever while a trio of freshmen in Sarah Zielinski, Cindy Alms, and Sophia Cologer have added massive depth to the roster.

Meet Preview

Cross Country Record Book:

Men’s 8,000m 1. Brandan McGee 24:45 2. Izzy Mehmedovic 24:51 3. Anthony Kelhower 24:54 4. Hassan Omar 24:54 5. Paul Zwama 24:55 6. Jake Albino 24:59 7. Tom Eldridge 24:59 8. Vinny DiSalvo 25:00 9. TJ Cowing 25:01 10. Eric Schuler 25:02

Men’s 10,000m 1. Anthony Kelhower 31:23 2. Brandan McGee 31:29 3. Sam Boimov 31:33 4. Jake Albino 32:02 5. Phil Knowlton 32:02 6. Michael Christmas 32:07 7. Paul Zwama 32:19 8. Hassan Omar 32:22 9. Chris Bowie 32:25 10. Greg Saylor 32:28

Women’s 5,000m 1. Sara Parkinson 17:47 2. Jen Ecker 17:52 3. Alex Hyland 17:55 4. Stefanie Thomas 18:10 5. Cara Wettlaufer 18:14 6. Cody Mezebish 18:21 7. Kirsten McGovern 18:38 8. Suzanne Gabriel 18:39 9. Keri Wilson 18:40 10. Julie Gessler 18:41

Women’s 6,000m 1. Jen Ecker 20:25 2. Alex Hyland 20:38 3. Stefanie Thomas 21:08 4. Sara Parkinson 21:20 5. Suzanne Gabriel 21:53 6. Nicole Dawson 21:58 7. Cody Mezebish 22:00 8. Sarah Zielinski 22:11 9. Keri Wilson 22:17 Cara Wettlaufer 22:17 10. Sarah Daly 22:20

Bolded names active runners

Men finished fourth while the women finished fifth at the Navy Invite

Hassan Omar ran the fourth fastest time in school history (24:54.9) to pace the Retrievers with an 11th place finish

Nicole Dawson led the women with a 16th place finish with the 6th fastest time in school history (21:58.88)

Other Top Ten All Time Performances at 6,000 meters included: Cody Mezebish 7th (22:00.77), Sarah Zielinski 8th (22:11.12), and Sarah Daly 10th (22:20.64)

11 of the Men ran under 26 minutes for 8,000 meters (school record)

8 of the Women ran under 23 minutes for 6,000 meters (school record)

Nicole Dawson

Coming into the season having only run 23:29 for the 6k, Dawson followed up a solid performance at the Pre-AEC

meet with rip-roaring 21:58 at the Navy Invite.

Last year, Dawson was a consistent score for the Retrievers during cross country and an ECAC qualifier in the

10,000 meters in outdoor.

Schedule: 10:00 AM Women’s Open Race 10:10 AM Men’s Open Race 11:00 AM Men’s Gold Race 1:00 PM Women’s Brown Race

Entries: Men’s Gold Race Entries:

Jake Albino – Sr.

Redatu Semeon – So.

Hassan Omar – So.

Pat Duboyce – Fr.

Eric Schuler – Jr.

Tommy Eldridge – Sr.

Jon Luckin – Fr.

Brandan McGee – Sr.

Andy Smith – Sr.

Austin Hayslett – So. Women’s Brown Race Entries:

Cody Mezebish – Sr.

Kirsten McGovern – Sr.

Sarah Zielinski – Fr.

Angel Bucci – So.

Nicole Dawson – So.

Julie Gessler – Jr.

Cindy Alms – Fr.

Sophia Cologer – Fr.

Angelina Oputa – So.

Sarah Daly – Jr.