BLOOMFIELD, NJ: The Deacons' cross country teams exhibited outstanding improvements Saturday afternoon, with the women posting their best finish of the season at the 5K Wilmington Invitational. The men were also outstanding, finishing fourth in the ten team, five mile event.
Sophomore
Mercy Puma was the first to cross the finish line for the Lady Deacons, coming in 29'th place with a time of 24:04.48.
Jennifer Bedoya,
Shakiyrah Bishop and
Dre'Shonda Williams were the next three finishers, following Puma in 50'th, 51'st and 52'nd place, their times separated by just 22 seconds combined.
Alexis Sweeney followed shortly after, finishing in 28:15.42, good for 54'th place. Junior
Robyn Burton finished in 57'th place with a time of 28:57.25, and
Deana Dedovitch was the final Lady Deacon finisher, coming in with a time of 29:41.25.
For the men, junior Nicholas Kipkosgei finished 12'th with a time of 29:48.83, by far one of his best performances so far this season. Senior
William Walsh and sophomore
Kevin Quiroz also finished in the top 35, with Walsh crossing the finish line in 26'th place, and Quiroz finishing in 34'th.
Elson Smajlaj followed just seven seconds later, finishing in 36'th place with a time of 31:42.80.
Steven Bowman was the next Deacon finisher placing 52'nd, with fellow freshman
Babasola Ojutalayo and
Moses Rotich finishing in 63'rd, and 64'th place.
"I thought we made some great improvements today," head coach Jerry WImberly said. "We had some great individual performances, but we improved a lot as a team as well. I'm extremely of our kids' performance today, and I think it's a great step towards getting to where we want to be."
The runners take to the course again this Saturday with a trip to the NYIT Invitational. The women's race is scheduled to begin at 10:00 AM, with the men's race beginning at 11:00 AM.