Men's Cross Country Finishes Solid Fall Season

JOSEPH LADD ’19 STAFF WRITER
The fall season Trinity men’s cross-country concluded last weekend at the NCAA Division III New England Regionals. The team finished in 16^th place and scoffed 462 points. Ace McAlister ’20 finished in 57^th place, capping off a solid fall season for the sophomore runner. Among the Bantam cross-country squad, McAlister represented Trinity by earning a spot on the All NESCAC Honors list, not to mention earning a feature in the Hartford Courant.
The team started their season off strong, finishing in first place in the Home Invitational. This win was their first, but not their last, as they scored another first-place finish at Westfield State a few weeks later. As for the rest of the season, the Bantams placed in the top-ten in all but two races in their seven-race schedule. Joe Ruggiero ’19 finished in second place at the Trinity Invitational, with classmate Zachary Joachim ’19 finishing second and Stephen Tyler ’21 scoring a fourth-place finish. Heading into the rest of the season with some added confidence, the Bantams had a strong presence at the UMass-Dartmouth Invitational, finishing tenth out of 40 teams. At the James Early Invitational, McAlister propelled to a second-place individual finish to lead the Bantams to a first-place win. He finished ten seconds ahead of the third-place runner. McAlister’s fastest race occurred at the Paul Short Run at Lehigh, with a 24:57 8k timing. Some other notable times by runners included a 16:54 5K run by Ruggiero at the Trinity Invitational and a 16:54.5 5k by Joachim. This past weekend, the Bantams finished in the top 20 teams at the NCAA Division III New England Regional Championships. Heading into the off season, the Bantams hope to improve even more on their successful 2017 fall season. If you see a cross country Bantam running around campus, be sure to give them a pat on the back for a strong season!