Marist men’s cross country took home third while women’s cross country placed fourth out of 10 teams at the Metropolitan Championships in Newark, NJ on Saturday.
The freshmen showed out for the men’s team, with Marist’s top five finishers all consisting of freshmen. Davis Haines led the charge coming in first for Marist and 12th overall with a time of 26:21.43 in the 8k (five-mile) race. Joaquin Bell-Andrade followed close behind at 26:24.28 in second for Marist and 13th overall.
“With the freshman group we have right now, we’re super close with each other, so we work off of each other,” said Haines. “I was with Joaquin for the last bit, about the last 800 meters to go, and it made that bit a lot more fun and a lot faster.”
Bell-Andrade also credits coaches Pete Colaizzo and Billy Poole-Harris for this new freshman team’s success as they jump to college racing.
“In high school, I didn’t run a lot of mileage, maybe 35 [miles] tops per week and now I’m reaching 45 to 50 and it feels good. I really love the coaching style,” said Bell-Andrade.
Miles Chamberlain came in third for Marist and 19th overall with a time of 26:35.49 after recovering from an illness last week. Freshmen Kevin Cannon and Sanjith Nomula rounded out the top five for Marist coming in 20th and 22nd overall with times of 26:38.21 and 26:42.54. Nomula, who closed out the top five for the Marist men in his first 8k of the season, spoke on the level of detail that goes into college racing.
“My coach from high school is from Upstate New York as well, so they have similar training there, but there’s so much more to do here,” said Nomula. “In high school, you can get away with not doing the little things correctly, but that attention to detail makes all the difference when racing here.”
The women’s cross country team spread the wealth with their top five runners ranging in class year. Starting the women off was sophomore Kyra Pellegrino, earning first for Marist and 11th overall at 18:30.74. Pellegrino had a strong rebound performance in the 5k race after racing a 23-minute 6k at the Paul Short Run just last week.
“I like to think of it as I have 24 hours to be upset and complain to my support system and then the next day you have to get right back into it,” said Pellegrino. “Speaking with my coaches, they made it clear that Paul Short won’t define me as who I am as a runner and that really helped me to move forward so quickly.”
Senior Adele Alexander followed, earning second for Marist and 15th overall with a time of 18:49.55.
“I’m really happy with the team we have this year. It’s bittersweet because I never want to leave them, but the energy that everyone is bringing is creating the best senior season I could have ever asked for,” said Alexander.
Freshman Julia Radjenovic, who just recently recovered from an ankle strain, clinched third for Marist and 22nd overall at 19:17.53. When battling her ankle sprain in her first season on the team, Radjenovic leaned on her new coaches to bring her to where she is today.
“It was very painful and at our first race, 800 meters in I went down and it really took a toll on my confidence, but the coaches were so supportive,” said Radjenovic. “Instead of making me feel like I should have been finishing, [head coach Chuck Williams] just tweaked my workouts. I cross-trained for a week and I really put my trust in him and it paid off today because I was ready to perform.”
Senior Kate Murtagh followed close behind at 23rd overall with a time of 19:25.13. Just like Alexander, Murtagh was adamant on how much the team’s culture has benefitted her performance.
“Since I’ve been here as a freshman, this year has probably been the best team culture we’ve ever had,” said Murtagh. “I’m really lucky to be a part of it and it’s so exciting to guide these freshmen through this amazing experience that I’ve had here at Marist.”
Senior Mary Dougherty claimed fifth for Marist coming in 33rd overall with a time of 19:51.33., one of three seniors finishing in the top five.
“We all know our role here and there’s a sense of comradery because it’s our last season and we want to all have a good time and soak it in while we can,” said Dougherty.
With the cross country season soon coming to an end, the Marist Red Foxes race next at IC4A Championships on Oct. 18.
Edited by Ben Leeds and Luke Sassa
Photos by Caitlin Bombassei
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