CMS top D-III team on both sides at Pomona-Pitzer Invite
CLAREMONT, Calif. – CMS' top-10 nationally ranked men's and women's cross country teams competed at the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 3. The Stags finished 2nd out of 16 teams and the Athenas finished 3rd out of 15 teams. CMS was the top NCAA Division III team on both sides, with the men only finishing behind NCAA Division II No. 7 Cal Poly Pomona and well ahead of SCIAC rival and Division III No.15 Pomona-Pitzer. The men placed five runners ahead of Pomona-Pitzer's second, besting the Sagehens by 38 points. The women claimed third place in front of NAIA No. 7 The Master's College and No. 12 Westmont College, with six Athenas in the top 30 finishers and 90 points separating them from the next SCIAC team, University of Redlands.
The Athenas also had three women finishers in the top-15, with senior Bridget Blum (CMC), leading the charge as she has this whole season, finishing 10th in 22:18. Juniors Jen Lehr (SCR-13th) and Caroline Willian (CMC-14th) followed closely behind in 22:30 and 22:34, respectively. Not far behind were sophomores Laura Broderick (SCR-22nd) and Roselyn Cantu (CMC-23rd); Broderick continued her break-out campaign with her 22:52 finish, while Roselyn Cantu emerged to score for the Athenas for the first time this season, coming in at 22:55 to close the door for CMS.
On the men's side, senior Zorg Loustalet (HMC) continued on his upward trend this the season, leading the team with a 5th-place finish overall in 25:15. Fellow senior Evan Molineux (CMC) moved up throughout the race to finish just a couple places back of Loustalet in 7th, with a time of 25:15. As has been the case all season long for the Stags, depth was of the upmost importance, and sophomore Kevin Huang (HMC) finished 3rd for the team in 16th overall (25:58), trailed closely by juniors Kyle Lund (HMC-26:02, 18th) and Garrett Ryan (CMC-26:04).
Of the 14 Athenas who had previously run the Pomona-Pitzer course, 10 set course personal records, while seven of the 15 Stags improved their best times on the course. All-time personal bests were recorded by juniors Wyatt Cooper (CMC-26:42) and Matt Mulligan (CMC-27:26), as well as freshmen Conner DiPaolo (HMC-27:02), Charlie Harris (CMC-27:11), and Colin Adams (HMC-28:48). For the women, seven freshmen recorded all-time personal records at the 6-kilometer distance, with Natalie Marsh (SCR-23:53), Sondra Abruzzo (SCR-24:28), Malea Martin (CMC-24:55), Greer Levin (SCR-24:59), Matilda Msall (SCR-25:37), Emily Cao (HMC-26:00), and Katy Akmal (HMC-31:58) all taking significant time off their previous bests. Of the top 12 SCIAC finishers on the day the Athenas had eight, while the Stags had half of the top dozen SCIAC finishers on the men's side.
Both teams return to action on Oct. 18 at La Mirada Park for the SCIAC Multi-Dual Meet. The women's race will begin at 8:30 a.m. and the men's at 9:15 a.m.
by Collin Christensen
Assistant Coach
CMS Cross Country
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