New Paltz Hawks Place at Ron Stonitsch Invitational

By Kaite Wilson

POUGHKEEPSIE – The State University at New York at New Paltz cross country program competed in the Ron Stonitsch Invitational Saturday. Both the women’s and men’s team finished in fifth place out of the 11 competing teams present.

The first pair of Hawks to cross the finish line for the women’s 5k was Lillian Stephenson and Marcella Candlin. The pair snagged 22nd and 23rd place crossing the line within 5 seconds of one another. Stephenson finished the race in 20:37.9 with an average mile pace of 6:38.4 minutes, dropping 13 seconds of her time last weekend at the New Paltz Invitational. Candlin followed suit finishing her race with a time of 20:41.8, dropping 44.4 seconds overall off her time from her race last weekend.

Orquidea Briceno crossed the finish line in 33rd place with a time of 21:18.6 and an average mile time of 6:51.6. Mackenzie Barcomb finished next for the Hawks in 37th place.

Her average mile time was 6:57.7, bringing her across the line at 21:37.8.

Jazmyne Daily-Simpson finished 40th, ending the race with a time of 21:50.4 and an average mile time of 7:01.7 minutes per mile. Crystal Rustami finished in 42nd with a time of 21:53.8 and a mile time of 7:02.8. Allison Englsih was the last Hawk to finish in the top 50 athletes with a time of 22:38.3 and an average mile of 7:17.1.

Evan Miller was the first of the men’s team to cross the line for the Orange and Blue, earning 12th place with a final 6k time of 20:16.2 and an average mile of 5:26.2. Miller cut of a full minute and 33.9 seconds from his time the previous weekend and shaved 25.2 seconds of his average mile split.

Gavin Bowers crossed the line next for the Hawks with a time of 20:49.8 and an average mile of 5:35.2. Bowers also dropped quite a bit of time, shaving off just under two minutes from his total time.

Vincent Mandracchia kept the trend rolling for the Hawks dropping a minute and 13 seconds from his race the previous week, crossing the line with a time of 20:58.9. His mile split dropped just under 20 seconds from 5:57.3 to 5:37.6.

Aiden Hesseltine finished 44th with a time of 22:11.6 and a mile split of 5:57.1, also dropping time from his last race. Brandon Gardner finished 51st with a time of 22:27.4 and a mile split of 6:01.4, once again dropping time.

Joe Palazzolo finished 59th with a time of 23:50.7 and a mile split of 6:23.7, shaving a minute and 15 seconds off his time. Anthony Willis crossed the line 61st with a time of 24:19.5, shaving a minute of his final time last weekend.