CONTACT: Adam Sopris, a.sopris@hvcc.edu or 518-629-7898/518-416-2137
FOR RELEASE: Immediate, Saturday, October 2, 2021
The Hudson Valley Community College men's and women's cross country programs returned to action following an off week and they performed well at the 12th annual cross country invitational hosted by Cazenovia College in Cazenovia, NY on Saturday morning.
The women's team started the day off with the running of the 5K course. Hudson Valley had three runners place inside the top-25 and were led by top runner, Olivia Skylstad, who placed 10th overall, with a final time of 24:07. Eva Sgambettera had one of her best races of her collegiate career, improving upon her times this season and earned an 18th place finish with a time of 26:23. Jessica Wank also finished with a top-25 finish, crossing the line at 27:18.
Rounding out the women's team scores for the Vikings were Ellicia Swedish (31st – 28:40), Hickory Whelan (33rd – 29:17) and Elizabeth Erno (39th – 34:09).
The men's team closed out the day off with the running of the 8K course. The Vikings top runner was Shazim Permaul, who finished 2nd overall for the second consecutive meet with an official time of 29:44. Trevor Dzikowicz and Garrick Smith-Growick joined Permaul as top-10 finishers in the meet. Dzikowicz finished 6thand posted a final time of 31:20 and Smith-Growick placed 10th with an official time of 32:22.
Eric Zumpe also placed inside the top-20 (14th) for the third consecutive week with an official time of 32:45. Jakob Quail and Benjamin Bulan rounds out the Vikings scoring. Quail finished 26th with a time of 34:50 and Bulan crossed the line in 39th place at 37:11. Martin Benoit placed 60th with a time of 45:36 and Dermot O'Connor was 61st with a time of 52:36.
The cross country programs move on to compete at the James Earley Invitational hosted by Westfield State on Saturday, Oct. 9. in Westfield, Mass.