Sept. 21, 2009

North Dartmouth, MA - On Saturday, September 19th, The Panther's cross-country squads traveled to North Dartmouth, Massachusetts to compete in the UMASS-Dartmouth Invitational. Both the men and women's squads placed three runners in the top 25, and both garnered 5th place overall finishes against impressive fields that included 42 division I, II and III teams. The Men's overall team title was taken by Keene State College, and MIT stormed to the womens' overall title.

The women had an impressive showing, with three athletes running under 19 minutes for the 5K course. Pacing the team was senior Danielle Matteo and freshman Gina Christaldi, each running 18:37, and placing 14th and 15th respectively. Sophomore Kristen Wojtuniak was next across the line, running a personal best for the Panthers in 18:50, placing 18th.

Junior Catherine Connors finished in 19:26, a cross-country personal best, which was good enough for 48th overall. Junior Jenilee Fuertes and Cassie Papandrew finished in 74th and 76th, respectively, with times of 19:59 and 20:05.

On The men's side, the Panthers were paced by a group of five runners, all of whom ran under 26 minutes for the 8K race. Juniors Adam Clark and Ryan Pezzulo led the team across the line, and places 12th and 16th, with times of 25:19 and 25:23. Senior Carlos Techera was the next harrier to cross, and turned in a personal best of 25:31, placing 25th.

Freshman Andrew Coelho was fourth across the line for the panthers in 25:45, earning 36th. Sophomore Angel Ortega was the Panthers' final scorer, crossing the line in 25:49, which was good enough for 40th place. Rounding out the Panthers' squad were freshman Tom Clark and junior Tom Eickelberg, who worked together to finish 83rd and 84th, with times of 26:49 and 26:50.

The panthers compete again on Friday, October 2nd at the Paul Short Run in Lehigh, Pennsylvania.