CONTACT: Adam Sopris, a.sopris@hvcc.edu, 518-629-7898 or 518-416-2137
FOR RELEASE: Immediate, Saturday, October 8, 2022

The Hudson Valley Community College men's and women's cross country programs competed in it's largest meet of the year, the annual James Earley Invitational, hosted by Westfield State University, in Westfield, Mass. 

The meet featured 25 premier four-year cross country programs across the New England and New York area. RPI, Hudson Valley's neighbors, won the women's race with a total score of 45 and averaged 25:56, totaling 2:09:39. 

The women's program placed 20^th out of 25 programs and were led by sophomore runner, Olivia Skylstad. Skylstad finished 69^th overall out of 167 runners and posted an official time of 21:06.27 in the 5K race. The next best finisher for Hudson Valley was Eva Sgambettera, who placed 107^th overall with a time of 22:43.31. 

Jessia Wank and Rebecca Seiter finished near each other as Wank placed 124^th with a time of 24:45.98 and Seiter crossed the line with a time of 25:45.67. Ellicia Swedish rounds out the Vikings scoring as she finished the 5K race with a time of 29:03.40. 

The men's program placed 21^st overall out of 24 programs. Eric Zumpe led the way for Hudson Valley as he crossed the finish line in 72^nd place out of 181 total runners. Zumpe posted an official time of 28:08.28 in the 8K race. Jake Kinnicutt was the next runner for Hudson Valley to cross the finish line. He placed 110^th overall and posted a time of 29:44.19. 

Adam Blough was not far behind Kinnicutt. Blough placed 114^th overall and totaled a time of 29:54. 40. Rounding out the remaining Vikings who scored points are Justin Layer (131^st – 30:37.87), William Petramale (140^th - 31:14.40), Ian Shaw (151^st – 33:06.85), Caden Jarvais (156^th – 34:29.43) and Jordon Wagner finished 170th with a time of 33:28. 

The cross country programs return to action on Saturday, October 15 when they compete in the Mountain Valley Conference Championships, hosted by Fulton-Montgomery.