ONEONTA, N.Y. – The Cortland women's cross country team earned four of the first five individual places, led by champion Alexa Doe (Adams/South Jefferson), and the Red Dragons easily claimed the team title at the Oneonta Airfield Invitational to open the 2026 season.
 
Cortland finished with a team score of 19 points, followed by Oneonta with 48. Rounding out the seven-team field were Mansfield (112), Delhi (117), Morrisville (133), Cobleskill (159) and Russell Sage (161). The race was held at the site of this November's SUNYAC championships.
 
Doe, a graduate student who joined the team this year after previously competing at Iona College, won the 4,500-meter race in 17 minutes, 27.1 seconds. Melissa Innocent (Elmont/Valley Stream North) finished second in 17:29.8, Phoebe Peer (Saranac Lake) was third in 17:30.1, and Briana Ostheller (Penfield) finished fifth in 17:46.0. A total of 72 runners competed.
 
Cortland also took three of the next six spots in the race. Makayla Renzo (Wappingers Falls/Roy C. Ketcham) finished in eighth place in 18:01.9, followed by Jade Hornick (Valley Stream/Valley Stream South) in ninth (18:08.0) and Anne Barney (Oakland, NJ/Indian Hills) in 11th (18:19.2). Also earning top-20 finishes were Alessandra Finnerty-Vidal (Dobbs Ferry/Ardsley) in 17th (18:44.7), Mia McClaine (Albany/Colonie) in 19th (19:01.0) and Abi Tessier (Delhi/Delaware Academy) in 20th (19:01.6).
 
Cortland returns to action on Friday, Sept. 11, at the Cornell University Opener.

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

My apologies on the delay on the first one of the year!

Both the Women and Men's squad went into the meet with a clear operational goal to pack run and emphasize a controlled close. We certainly saw some impressive turnovers, and we're excited to see our depth continue to pay off!

On the Women's side, there's always a value in earning a win - especially with such close work done with teammates pulling each other along!

On the Men's side, a big middle pack really stood out amongst the field - fantastic early practice for them as the Conference meet can get spaced out, so the whole team has to know how to create their own work!

My final favorite thought with these early meets is not only about how good it is to see the team back in action – but that we get to send Returners back to work with First-Years. This is extra helpful as they reasonably have first collegiate-race jitters! This welcoming attitude amongst the team adds to the reward for the group!

We'll be headed to Cornell for another Friday night meet this week, for a fun match up with our good friends in Ithaca!