Williamstown, MA — The Molloy University men's and women's cross country teams competed at the Purple Valley Invitational on Saturday at Mt. Greylock High School. Both teams earned third-place finishes, with the men's team totaling 85 points in the 8K and the women's team recording 85 points in the 6K.
Senior Peter Bagattine led the Lions in the men's 8K, finishing 31st overall with a time of 26:54.0. Sophomore Anthony Baldasano followed in 43rd at 28:33.8, while freshman Kevin Fernandez placed 44th in 29:00.8. Fernandez improved upon his previous 8K time of 29:25.0, which he ran at the Panthers XC Invite earlier this season. Freshman Cristian Suazo finished 46th in 29:27.5, improving on his previous collegiate-best 8K time of 31:21.0. Freshman Daniel Dziurka rounded out Molloy's scoring five, placing 47th in 30:30.7 and improving on his previous collegiate-best of 32:21.6. Sophomore John Abad finished 48th in 31:32.8, followed by freshman Zion Granberry in 49th at 33:09.1. Freshman Fredi Castro placed 50th in 33:16.1, while freshman Satveer Thind rounded out the Molloy field in 51st with a time of 33:21.9.
Graduate student Alaysia Cobb led the Lions in the women's 6K, placing 31st overall with a time of 25:29.0. Cobb improved upon her season-opening 6K time of 26:10.6. Freshman Keira McLaughlin followed in 32nd at 25:44.0, improving on her collegiate debut of 26:12.3. Junior Carli Sheiffele placed 33rd in 25:55.0, finishing just off her season-opening mark of 25:51.5.
Freshman Olivia Grassi finished 35th in 26:29.0, improving by more than three minutes from her collegiate debut at the Panthers XC Invite. Sophomore Melissa Joseph placed 37th in 26:59.0, also recording a significant improvement from her season-opening time of 31:00.9. Sophomore Kate Mejia followed in 38th at 27:18.0, improving upon her previous 6K time of 27:28.5. Sophomore Martina Mileti finished 39th in 27:29.0, followed by sophomore Anelisa Fulgieri in 40th at 27:59.0. Junior Sophia Michaels rounded out the Molloy runners in 41st with a time of 30:14.0.
The Lions will return to action on Friday, Oct. 2, at the Paul Short Invitational in Bethlehem, PA.
