ONEONTA, N.Y. - Junior Alyson Dalton (Sherrill/Vernon-Verona-Sherrill) finished 11th and senior Kristin Vespa (Ossining) placed 17th in a field of 246 runners at the Oneonta Airfield Invitational. Their finishes helped lead Cortland to a seventh place showing out of 20 teams at the race. St. Lawrence won with 50 points, followed by Geneseo (68), Rowan (135), Vassar (155), The College of New Jersey (156), Ithaca (164) and Cortland (167) in the top seven.

Dalton crossed the finish line in 22:33.7 over a 6,000-meter course that will be the site of the NCAA Div. III Atlantic Regionals in November. Vespa finished with a time of 22:53.1.

Cortland's next five runners all finished in the top 63 of the 246-runner race. Senior Caitlin Sullivan (Elmira/Thomas A. Edison) was 43rd (23:27.6), senior Erin Keaveney (West Hempstead/Kellenberg Memorial) finished 48th (23:35.2) and sophomore Jordyn Naylon (Fairport) placed 55th (23:46.2). Freshman Colleen Fischman (Buffalo/Hamburg) and junior Hannah Hoffman (Rome/Rome Free Academy) were each officially timed at 23:53.6 - Fischman finished 62nd and Hoffman was 63rd.

The Red Dragons used a conservative race plan on the course at Fortin Park. Their strategy required running controlled through the first five kilometers before closing the last kilometer of 6,000-meter race hard. This strategy allowed the team to move up throughout the later portions of the race where they eventually earned their seventh place finish.

(Josh Henry contributed to this story)

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