ATTLEBORO, Mass. – It was season-opening Saturday for the UMass Dartmouth men's cross country team, taking to the course in Attleboro, Mass., for the 2024 Wheaton/Babson Season Opener. The day was highlighted by several PR's and a strong average finish for the Corsairs.
UMass Dartmouth saw three student-athletes achieve a PR for today's 5k event, while four others hit course PR's at the Highland Park course. As a team, the Corsairs posted a team average race finish time of 16:44, a noticeable improvement from last season's average of 17:15 in Attleboro.
Leading the way in Saturday's race was fifth year
Jake Paris, who achieved a personal record of 16:11.9 to finish ninth overall. Graduate student
Frank Wenner was next across, hitting a course PR time by 13 seconds of 16:45.6 for 28th overall. Sophomore
Cameron Thompson was next across, bettering his course PR in Attleboro by 44 seconds with a time of 16:49.3 – good for 31st.
Junior
Ethan Sylvia came across in 38th, hitting a personal record of 16:54.7, which also included a course PR of 1:20. Sophomore
Joseph Stanton was next to cross the line, placing 41st overall with a PR time of 16:58.9. He also bettered his course PR at Highland Park by 53 seconds.
Senior
Benjamin Davignon went on to place 46th overall, crossing in a time of 17:12.3, while rookie
Jackson Caron posed 53rd in his collegiate debut with a time of 17:35.9. Senior
Isaac Steele was close behind, posting 57th overall in 17:45.1, while another rookie,
Connor Bruni had a mark of 17:47.5 in his collegiate debut for 59th.
Graduate student
Davis Preston finished 60th with a mark of 17:51.7, while sophomore
James Carriere placed 63rd in 18:19.7.
Additional competitors in Saturday's opener included:
Jack Barbato –18:38.8 finish time – 70th overall
Cooper Blatz –18:39.3 finish time – 71st overall
Zack Shute – 18:57.2 finish time – 74th overall
Michael Gemelli – 19:07.1 finish time – 77th overall
Tyler Scanlon – 19:17.8 finish time – 81st overall
James Christie – 19:26.1 finish time – 85th overall
Ben Bairos – 19:28.7 finish time – 86th overall
Ronan Maloney – 20:22.6 finish time – 90th overall
Isaac Toweh – 22:08.0 finish time – 93rd overall
As a team, the Corsairs were seventh overall across the multi-divisional event that featured nine teams. Division I Holy Cross took the men's team title, followed by Stonehill, another Division I team.
The Corsairs return to action on Saturday, September 7th, heading to Wickham Park in Manchester, Connecticut for the Trinity College Invite. Action begins at 10:30am for the men and 11:10am for the women.
