The following information was provided by David Longolucco, sports information director at Mitchell College:
The Mitchell College men’s and women’s cross country teams hosted Albertus Magnus College and Post University at the 2011 Mitchell Invite on Friday evening at Stenger Farm Park.
The Mitchell men’s team placed first out of the three squads. The Mariners had the top four finishers and totaled 18 points to edge Post (49) and Albertus Magnus (71). Mitchell freshman Sherif Ali (Cliffside Park, N.J./Cliffside Park) was the first to cross the tape, covering the 6,760-meter course in a time of 23:33.8.
On the women’s side, Post (18 points) defeated Mitchell (37) in a head-to-head contest. Barbara Almeida (Goias, Brazil/Sacred Heart) and Michelle Chadwick (Miami, Fla./Dr. Michael M. Krop) paced the Eagles and finished first and second, respectively, with times of 20:02.2 and 20:04.3 over the 4,667-meter course.
Ali dominated the men’s race, finishing more than a minute ahead of runner-up and teammate Jake Ustjanaskos. Drew Castagna (Westerly, R.I./Westerly) and Evan Garrity (Washington, Conn./Shepaug Valley) completed the top four for the Mariners. The trio finished with times of 24:42.5, 24:56.7 and 25:07.4. The next runner to cross the finish line was Albertus Magnus’ John Snow in a time of 25:12.8. Bhanuka Mahabamunuge (Colombo, Sri Lanka/Crosby) was the top finisher for Post in sixth place with a time of 27:55.0.
Mitchell freshman Bridget Burns (Clark, N.J./Bishop Ahr) placed third in the women’s race with a time of 20:30.0 while Albertus Magnus’ Veronica Blekis clocked in 20:40.2 to secure fourth place. Post secured the victory, however, by locking up the fifth, seventh and eighth overall spots. Albertus Magnus did not rank in the team standings because it did not field a full squad.
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