XC proves competitive at elite D-I meet in NY

By LUCAS BEDNAREK

For The News-Letter

After what was so far the most competitive meet of the season, the Hopkins cross-country team continues to be pleased with their results. At the Sept. 19 Iona Meet of Champions, the first meet this year in which Hopkins competed against D-I teams, Blue Jay men’s and women’s teams placed sixth and second, respectively.

The women’s team was particularly pleased with their finish at the race. Placing second, they finished behind only the University of Wisconsin Badgers, a team which was ranked tenth in the nation among D-I schools as of Sept. 15. “We’re ecstatic,” senior captain Courtney Kelly said. “We finished second only to Wisconsin, which is ranked as one of the top ten D-I schools in the nation. We beat all the other D-I schools, including all of the Ivy League schools. To be a D-III school able to compete against the best of the best D-I schools really shows how strong of a team we have.”

Not only was the competition tougher than previous meets for Hopkins, but the course was also more demanding. As opposed to the flat terrain that the team encountered at the Mustang Stampede on Sept. 12, this course featured more hills for a true cross-country race.

“It takes a lot of guts to stay positive and motivated on the back hills at Van Cortlandt Park, but all in all I think we gutted it out and stayed strong,” Kelly said.

In the midst of this more difficult competition, the younger class of runners also stepped up to the challenge. “This was definitely a harder race than the last one, being a tougher course physically as well as a faster race based on the teams we were up against. I feel that they did not let it get into their heads, though, and they performed very strongly,” Kelly said.

Another factor that contributed in part to the team’s performance on Saturday was the return of Kelly herself, who placed third for Hopkins and 11th overall.

“It felt great to be able to race again,” Kelly said. “I hadn’t since spring track, in which I had been working back from an injury so I wasn’t racing very competitively. This race was great to be able to race alongside Tess [Meehan] and Hannah [Oneda] and work together throughout the entire 6K.”

Coming in first for the Hopkins women and second overall was senior Sophia Meehan. Meehan, who placed first overall at the Mustang Stampede on Sept. 12, is not only fast, but also seems to have a positive influence on the team.

“Her dedication always encourages the rest of the team to achieve their highest potentials,” Kelly said.

Looking ahead towards the women’s team’s national title aspirations, Kelly offered no comment on whether the team members collectively believe that they are on track to accomplish this goal.

“We are working hard to make that victory,” Kelly said.

The men’s team is also pleased with its sixth-place finish. Like the women, the men ran against some of the toughest teams in the nation, including the University of Wisconsin Badgers, which were ranked fourth nationally in D-I. Among such a competitive pool of teams, the sixth-place result indicates an ability to compete at a high level later in the season but also leaves room for improvement.

“Sixth place was a great finish for us. We hope to obviously do better in the future,” senior captain Ryan Schwartz said. This team hopes to bring a Centennial Conference title back to Hopkins and looks at this race as a gauge of their readiness for this level of competition for the remainder of the season.

“We’re definitely heading in the right direction. We have a lot of work to do,” Schwartz said. “[The Conference Championship] is still over a month away, so we still have some of our toughest weeks of training ahead. If we continue training at the intensity that we need to, then we’re going to get to that goal.”