POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – Half of the 12 competitors for the Fairfield University men's and women's cross country teams made their collegiate debuts on Saturday morning at the Marist Season Opener. Both Stags' team finished fourth in the early fall event at Vassar Farms.
In the women's 4K event, senior captain Kathleen Woods paced Fairfield with a ninth-place time of 19:14.7. Sarah Morrissette was the next Stag to cross the line, doing so in 20:49.4 to score 17 points and place 30th overall. Newcomer Katie Kern was right behind her with a 31st-place showing at 20:54.3.
Julia Wood, Annie Erikson and Ashley Cambisaca also ran in the event for Fairfield.
Host Marist won the team title led by the day's top two finishers in Kristen Traub (17:50.6) and Mara Schiffhauer (18:29.1). Hofstra and Iona placed second and third, respectively, as the Stags bested MAAC opponent Siena with their fourth place showing.
The Stags's men's team also placed fourth in the meet, which also featured MAAC foes Marist, Iona and Siena.
Senior captain Dan DeBlock led Fairfield, scoring 15 points and placing 20th overall. The senior logged a time of 19:56.5 in the 6K race at Vassar Farms. Jordan Dixon paced the Stags' newcomers with a time of 20:31.2 in his first collegiate race.
Also running for the Stags were Frank Segreto, Andrew Infascelli, Mike Bodie and Timothy Salit.
"It's always nice to see the seniors leading the way" said Head Coach Brendan Rickert, "But perhaps more importantly were the underclassmen, specifically the freshmen, who stepped up and performed wonderfully in their first appearance for Fairfield."
Perennial MAAC powerhouse Iona won the meet with 27 points. All five scoring Gaels finished among the top 11, including overall leader Xavier King, who broke the tape in 18:53.1.
Both Fairfield cross country teams return to action on Saturday, Sept. 19 at the Rider Invitational.
I'm very excited to compete again at the Rider Invite to see how we measure up against most of the MAAC," said Rickert. "We will be close to fullstrength for that meet so we're looking forward to a strong result."
