Cross Country Runs Strong at the Bruce Bridgeman Invitational
SUNY Erie cross country continued its season at the Bruce Bridgeman Invitational hosted by Finger Lakes Community College. The meet featured a mix of NJCAA and NCAA teams, with 10 institutions represented in the field.
In the women's 5k race, Sonya Krezmien ran competitively with the lead pack, finishing in 8th place with a time of 24:00. Mads Baird finished in 18th place (28:53), and Plamedi Mutombo completed her first race in a Kats uniform, finishing in 30th place (42:50).
In the men's 8k race, Sam May started conservatively, then steadily moved up through the field to secure 20th place with a time of 32:17. Making his Erie debut, Mark Zeder crossed the line in 38:09 for 45thplace. He was shortly followed by Chad Kapturowski in 46th place (38:22). Spectators were seeing double when Brendan Terrill (51st, 41:35) and Aidan Terrill (52nd, 41:36) finished nearly side-by-side. Eugene Bush improved his time from last year's Bruce Bridgeman Invite by over six minutes, placing 54th in 43:02.
The men placed 6th in the team scoring with 143 points, narrowly missing 5th place held by Onondaga Community College with 131 points.
"We came to this meet to measure our progress against other NJCAA schools that we don't see very often, as well as to preview the Region championship course," said Head Coach Chris Muldoon. "The women ran hard on a very challenging course. It was a good experience and we'll be much stronger in six weeks. On the men's side, we had five runners doing their first 8k – and we had some impressive performances. The guys have been running as a pack in workouts, so it was exciting to see that continue in the race."
SUNY Erie will return to Finger Lakes for the Region 3 championship on October 28. The team's next competition is September 23 at the Harry F. Anderson Invitational hosted by Roberts Wesleyan University.