By Peter Neville, Contributor
Both Canisius men’s and women’s cross country teams claimed top-five finishes at the Jasper Fall Invitational at Twin Ponds on the Farm in Montgomery, NY, last weekend.
Entering year two as head coach, Tyler Scheving looked to build off performances in the 2022 MAACs, where the men’s program finished in fifth and the women’s program followed in sixth.
“We know the work isn't done,” said Scheving. “We know this was only a step towards the ultimate goal: to bring Canisius back into the top three of the MAAC. This comes from a full team buy-in. Everyone, top to bottom, has been bringing their A-game to help move this program forward. As the temperatures begin to cool, the Griffs have been heating up.”
The men secured a second-place finish overall in the 8k race, propelled by outstanding performances from graduate student Tom Appenheimer and senior Ronan McDonald. Appenheimer, who claimed the title of the men's individual champion in the invitational, posted an impressive time of 24:33.6, surpassing his previous personal best for an 8k race. McDonald achieved similar success, securing seventh place individually with a time of 25:17.3, marking a new personal best for him in an 8K course.
Fellow MAAC member Rider won the men’s portion of the tournament, posting a score of 43 points.
The women experienced similar success on the day, achieving a fifth-place overall finish led by great performances from graduate Olivia Moran and junior Kayla Schmidt. Moran secured fifth place individually with a finishing time of 21:08.8, surpassing her previous personal best time by over a minute. Schmidt also earned a top-10 individual finish, clocking in at 21:40.1, which also marked an improvement over her previous personal best, placing her 10th individually.
Quinnipiac emerged as the winner of the women's portion of the invitational, finishing comfortably ahead of NYU and Rider with a final score of 31 on the day. Canisius’s next race will take place at the Paul Short Invitational hosted by Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA on Saturday, Sept. 30.