FREDONIA, N.Y. - Six Red Dragons finished in the top half of the field, led by freshman Sydney Smith's (Niskayuna) sixth-place showing, at the season-opening Fredonia Women's Cross Country Invitational.

Oswego won the team title with 38 points, followed by Fredonia (54), Brockport (59), Cortland (79) and Gannon (134).

Smith covered the 4,000-meter course in 16:47.7. Fredonia's Hannah Kurbs won the race in 16:04.8, with Smith part of a pack that finished in the fourth to eighth range.

Junior Eliza Nichols (Smithtown/Smithtown West) finished 11th in the 61-runner field in 17:05.1. Freshman Maddie Ciuffetelli (Dix Hills/Half Hollow Hills East) was 19th in 17:28.9.

Cortland's next three runners finished within a second and a half of each other. Junior Jill Leggiero (East Greenbush/Columbia) and junior Courtney Maurin (Pine Bush) each were timed in 17:45.4, with Leggiero officially 23rd and Maurin 24th. Sophomore Shayna Will (Endicott/Seton Catholic) was 26th in 17:46.7.

Cortland returns to action next Saturday, Sept. 8, at the Hamilton College Short Course Meet.

Complete Results:
Women
Men


Coach's Corner - Comments from Head Coach Steve Patrick following the men's and women's races:

We opened up the 2018 season today with some really great efforts for both teams.  While obviously Sydney and Eliza had a solid start to the season, the Lady Red Dragons had a super nice pack of runners where six folks were together a bit before the two mile mark.  We've emphasized team running, so it was great to see it in action today.

With the guys, we had some great individual efforts up front, to go along with really strong debuts from Hunter Braun, Michael Verde, and Clayton Santiago - although I'd be foolish if I didn't mention how important the pacing chores and leadership of James Forte and Pat Carew were for those guys!