Vermont Tech's 2nd annual Cross Country Invitational a Success
On a beautiful but cool and windy day, Vermont Tech played host to 8 schools on Saturday during our 2nd annual Cross Country Invitational, including teams from across New England and New York. The host Green Knights didn't win the race, but many teams complimented the race course, and are hoping to return to our course next year.
The day kicked off at 9am with a 5K citizen's race, and 10 brave souls has no problem handling running through the wet grass. Our tough hills and muddy, swampy areas didn't stop the locals from breaking record times on the race course. Special thanks to all those who participated to help us raise money for our cross country teams.
The weather warmed up for the women's 5K collegiate race, which started promptly at 11am on the same course as the citizen's race. NCAA DIII school Albany College of Pharmacy took the top two spots, with race winner Jessica Monzyk finishing with a time of 22:03.63 and her team mate Julia Lindsay coming in a close second at 22:08.17. Third place went to Jocelyn Acheson of YSCC rival UMaine Augusta with a time of 22:37.12.
At Noon, the men's race kicked off with a tough field on the starting line. The men raced on the 8K course, taking them through the apple orchard and across the hay fields on campus. Corey Donley of the Naval Prep Academy took the win by nearly 30 seconds with a time of 29:49.56. Second place went to Peter McKenna of Saint Michael's College in a time of 30:20.49, followed by Matthew Crough from Albany College of Pharmacy in a close third with a time of 30:31.87. The first Knight to cross the line was our own Collin Johnson, who took 27th while finishing the race in socks! Collin lost his sneakers when he ran through the mud at Kilometer 4, and ran the second half of the race with out them.
Along with the home team Green Knights, racers came from YSCC conference opponents UMaine Augusta, Hampshire College and Nashua Community College., as well as NCAA schools, which included, Green Mountain College, Naval Prep Academy, Albany College of Pharmacy and Saint Michael's College.
Team Results:
WOMEN:
| 1 | Albany College of Pharmacy | 31 points |
| 2 | Naval Prep Academy | 36 points |
| 3 | Hampshire College | 79 points |
| 4 | Nashua Community College | 86 points |
MEN:
| 1 | Saint Michael's College | 34 points |
| 2 | Naval Prep Academy | 54 points |
| 3 | Albany College of Pharmacy | 73 points |
| 4 | Hampshire College | 106 points |
| 5 | Green Mountain College | 123 points |
| 6 | Vermont Tech | 147 points |
