Cross Country gets off to great start with solid showing at Nyack
Men place first, women third in opening meet
Bloomfield's men's cross country team was victorious in their opening meet of the season Saturday, totaling 34 points in the Nyack Invitational. The women's team finished in third with 65 points. Saint Thomas Acquinas finished in second in the men's meet followed by Nyack, with the Warriors winning the event on the women's side.
For the men, senior William Walsh was the high finisher, coming in third with a time of 17:39 in the 3.1-mile event. Captains Nicholas Kipkosgei and Elson Smajlaj came in places fifth and sixth respectively, with times of 17:52 and 18:02. Devang Patel held off a furious charge from STAC runner Chris Muniz for eighth place with a time of 19:07. Freshmen Steven Bowman and Moses Rotich finished 12'th and 13'th respectively, with times of 19:47 and 20:05.
On the women's side, sophomore Mercy Puma was the high finisher for the women posting a time of 23:20, good for eighth place. Freshman Bertina Beaubrun finished 12'th with a time of 25:43, and Shakiyrah Bishop, Vanessa Lamison and Dre'Shonda Williams finished 14'th, 15'th, and 16'th respectively. Deana Dedovitch, Robyn Burton and Alexis Sweeney finished 18'th, 19'th and 20'th.
"Overall I was extremely pleased with our performance today," Deacons head coach Jerry Wimberly said. "For the first meet, I thought we did an outstanding job with the rainy conditions. It was definately a great effort for our first outting of the year."
The squads will return to action on September 5, when they travel to Doylestown, PA for the Delaware Valley College Invitational. The women's meet begins at 10:00 AM, with the men's meet beginning at 11:00 AM.