New Britain, CT - The University of Hartford men's and women's cross country team were back in action Saturday morning, competing at the Central Connecticut State University Mini-Meet in New Britain. The women's team placed 11th out of 14 teams. The Hawks were 25 points behind Stony Brook, the 10th place team, and 15 points ahead of 12th place Sienna. The men's team finished 12th out of 14 teams, tallying 304 points in the five kilometer race. The Hawks were 15 points behind Siena in 11th and 64 points ahead of Holy Cross, the 13th place team.
Senior Elizabeth Foster led the Hawks with a seventh place finish, recording a time of 11:25, setting a personal-best for the two mile course. Foster finished just 16 seconds behind race-leader Sarah Mosser of America East Conference member and race champion Boston University. She has been the top-finisher for Hartford in each of their five meets this season.
Other top-finishers for the Hawks was junior Kaycee Martinez in 59th place with a time of 12:22 and sophomore Leanna Godfrey with a time of 12:37 for a 71st place finish. Junior Melanie Wilson was next to cross the finish line for Hartford, placing 74th with a time of 12:39. Rounding out the top-seven for the Hawks was junior Ariana Bass (12:51), sophomore Biliana Mihaylova (13:04), freshman and Larisa Woykovsky (13:10).
Crossing the finish line first for the Hartford men was Jonas Hampton. The sophomore finished in 14th place, his best finish on the season, while running to a new personal record in the five kilometer race with a time of 15:35. Hampton finished just 51 seconds behind race-leader Alex Felce from America East Conference member Stony Brook. This is the fifth time this season that Hampton has been Hartford's top-finisher.
Other top-finishers for Hartford were freshmen Andrew Chalmers in 54th (15:35), Patrick Murray in 82nd (16:42), and Justin Ferreira who finished in 105th place (17:02). Posting an identical time as Ferreira in the 5,000-meter course was junior Weston Melnik with a 106th place finish. Rounding out the top-seven for the Hawks were freshmen Alexander Welford and Eric Flaman, who finished with times of 17:15 and 17:52, respectively.
Hartford will now gear up for the America East Conference championship meet on Saturday, November 1 in Baltimore, MD.
