ITHACA, N.Y. - The Cortland men's and women's cross country teams competed at the non-team scoring Cornell University John Reif Memorial Run on Friday afternoon. Both races featured runners from Division I schools Cornell, Syracuse and Colgate.

Cortland's men were led by Anthony Rizzo (Rochester/Irondequoit), who finished in 21st place with a time of 17 minutes, 15.1 seconds over 5,000 meters.

Thomas Loeb-Lojko (New York/West End Secondary School) placed 23rd in 17:35.1, followed by Devian Roberts (Schenectady) in 24th (18:33.1), Noah Franco (Grand Island) in 25th (18:40.3), and Logan Heitner (Johnson City) in 26th (18:40.4).

Cassidy Wendt (Seaford) was the top Red Dragon in the women's race, covering the 5,000-meter course in 20 minutes, 56.6 seconds for a 12th-place finish. MaryJane Politi (Newburgh/Newburgh Free Academy) was close behind Wendt in 13th place with a time of 21:00.9.

Also for the Red Dragons, Emily Neuman (Auburn) finished 16th (21:37.8), Kelly Newman (Harrison) was 18th (22:41.4), and Katie Ball (Smithtown/Smithtown East) placed 19th (23:35.1).

Cortland returns to action on Saturday, October 31, at the SUNYAC Championships in Oneonta.

Coach's Corner - Comments from Cortland Head Coach Chad Dunham

Always nice to have a pleasant afternoon on the golf course, we're happy to go to John Reif every year and are thankful Cornell continues to host us!
 
We sent a small squad over to either wrap up the Fall or determine a SUNYAC Spot on the roster. While it's a small field and the race gets spread out, we certainly had good efforts! 

I'd like to shout out MJ Politi and Cassidy Wendt, the two of them almost ran the whole race stride for stride and pushed one another well to the line! This kind of groupwork has made our program strong all year, and whenever it is practiced it should be celebrated! 

Anthony Rizzo on the men's side deserves a shout out, solidifying himself into our top 14 for the conference meet. With the note of the small spread out race, it can be mentally challenging to really notch the pace down in the middle and through the end, which he did well! 

We are officially into Championship season with all the regular season meets over. Next up I hope to have good news to report on Halloween after we make our trip over to Oneonta! Thanks for reading! "