SPRINGFIELD, Mass.- The Western New England (WNE) Invitational saw both the men and women's cross country teams produce impressive performances as both squads continue to show progress throughout the season. The Gulls now have two weeks to prepare for the beginning of their championship portion of their schedule with the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Championships on November 2nd.
The women's team finished 9th out of 22 teams in the field. The Gulls registered a team score of 238. They were the third best CCC team in the field finishing behind just Salve Regina, who won the race, and Roger Williams, who finished third.
Having finished as the top Endicott runner in every race she has competed in with all finishes being top 10, Erin Haynes put forth the best effort of her career as she finished first out of 190 runners at the Western New England Invitational. Her first place finish, the best finish for an Endicott individual since the 2008 season, came in a time of 19:13.03, more than seven seconds ahead of the second place finisher. On the season, Haynes has now recorded a first place finish, two fourths and a sixth. Her time of 19:13 shattered her previous personal best of 19:30 that came earlier this year at the UNE Invitational.
Closing out the scoring behind her was Jocelyn Kane (East Longmeadow, Mass.) as she finished 50th with a time of 21:26.47. Jillian Mendes (Waterbury Center, Vt.) was right on her heels as she finished in 21:33.75, good enough for 54th. Shelby Woodworth (Hutchinson, Minn.) finished 80th in a time of 22:32.69 as Casey Arnold (Latham, N.Y.) finished 109th with a time of 23:38.78.
For the men, Alex Walecka (Dartmouth, Mass.) finished the long 8K race in an impressive time of 29:06.75, good enough for 51st overall out of 190 runners. Mitchell Renfrew (Barkhamsted, Conn.) was close behind as he posted a time of 29:59.69, good for 77th. James Dooley completed the extended course in a time of 34:55.88 as new runner Dylan Schaefer rounded out the Endicott runners with a time of 36:45.78.
