On Friday, the men’s and women’s cross country teams traveled to Princeton, New Jersey, to compete in the Princeton Cross Country Fall Classic. Racing through the crisp autumn air on Princeton’s scenic “Meadows” Course, the Red delivered an impressive performance against a strong field.
In the men’s 8,000-meter race, Cornell placed 12th among 31 teams, led by senior Tyler Canaday who placed 26th, coming in at a time of 23:42.2. Close behind was junior Aryan Abbaraju, who crossed the line in 32nd place in a time of 23:47, followed by sophomore Griffin Mandirola, who clocked a 23:51.8 to finish in 35th place.
Rounding out the men’s top five finishers were freshman Zach Leader, who placed 150th, and sophomore Colin Martens, who placed 153rd, finishing with times of 24:50.6 and 24:51.3 respectively to contribute to the team’s strong collective effort.
The team saw some marked individual improvements from its previous meet, the Paul Short Invitational. Canaday and Abbaraju each dropped one second from their 8,000-meter time just one week ago. Most notably, Mandirola cut two full seconds from his previous time, displaying increasing speed and endurance as the season progresses.
On the women’s side, Cornell made its mark with a 7th place finish among 25 teams in the 6,000-meter race. Senior Mairead Clas paced the Red with a 22nd place finish in a time of 20:38.4. Junior Maisie McManus followed in 40th place, coming in at 20:57.5, and freshman Evelyn Prodoehl came in 55th place with a time of 21:09.9.
Sophomore Hannah Kersten and freshman Kinga Czajkowska also contributed to the team success with only two-tenths of a second separating them, coming in 63rd and 64th place respectively with times of 21:15.1 and 21:15.3.
The women’s team showed incredible improvement compared to their results in the Paul Short Invitational. Clas dropped a stunning nine seconds from her previous time in the 6,000-meter race. She was not the only racer to show considerable time improvement; McManus dropped 19 seconds and Prodoehl cut 12 seconds from her previous time. This marked time improvement is promising for the Red as it gears up for an important stretch of competition.
After a successful trip to Princeton, Cornell will continue to prepare for the Ivy League Championship Meet, which is only two weeks away. Next up for the Red is the John Reif Invitational at Moakley Course at 4 p.m on Friday, Oct. 24.
