From beginning to end, cross country places first

By Cody Baker / Beacon Correspondent
September 27, 2012 at 1:00 am

Strength in numbers led to the recent men’s cross country victory at the Eighth Annual Massachussets Maritime Lt. Travis J. Fuller Men’s Cross Country Invitational Sept. 8 and a fourth-place finish at the Rivier  Invitational on Sept. 21.

Emerson placed all five scorers in the top 13 places at the five-mile invitational.

Men’s cross country clinched the victory over SUNY-Maritime College by one point, receiving top team honors. Senior Kyle Oppenheimer finished second with a time of 28:40, while senior Christopher Colon placed fifth place with 29:51. 

Rounding out the top five scorers were freshman Kevin Dempsey, sophomore Nik Rodewald, and junior Brendan Stackhouse finishing in ninth, 12th, and 13th place respectively. This resulted in a runner from every class year representing top scorers.

Two weeks later at the Rivier Invitational, Oppenheimer finished ninth place by timing 26:37, which gave a steady pace to the Lions for the rest of the event. Colon finished 15th with 27:44, followed by Dempsey in 22nd finishing 28:10, Rodewald 29th with 28:37, and Stackhouse 32nd with 28:55. 

The Lions finished at fourth place overall. Only Norwich was able to better its standing in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC).

“The races were definitely a group effort, and both teams [men’s and women’s] made a point to show camaraderie and cheer each other on,” said Colon. “[Fuller] was the first meet of the year, so we were trying to get the gist of running a five-mile race.” 

The remainder of the season is looking brightly optimistic, he said. 

“We’re aiming to win the GNAC race at the end of the year,” Colon said. “That’s the big one.” 

The events took place along the banks of the Cape Cod Canal in Buzzards Bay, Mass., and Nashua, N.H., back-to-back, where the runners competed against other schools including Suffolk University and Massachusetts Maritime Academy.

The next invitational will be in Wenham, Mass., at Gordon College for the Pop Crowell Invitational on Sept. 29.

Baker can be reached at cody_baker@emerson.edu.