Christensen, Phelan Lead Warriors to Sweep at Rivier Invitational
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Led by dominant performances from underclassmen on both the men's and women's circuit, the Merrimack men's and women's cross country teams raced to first-place team finishes for both sides' first respective team victories of the season on Friday afternoon at the Rivier Invitational.
Performing in both teams' fourth race of the fall, both the men and the women managed to blow away the competition en route to the team victories, while the men placed in five of the top of the top six slots overall.
Rookie runner Nick Christensen (Peabody, Mass.) led the men's side en route to a time of 25:20 on the course, good for his first-ever individual victory in his collegiate career. Behind him, sophomore Sherif Ali (Cliffside Park, N.J.) finished in second place overall with a time of 25:47, while fellow freshman Aaron Maurais (Hopedale, Mass.) rounded out the podium to finish in third with an overall time of 25:52.
"That was a real nice showing by the guys," head coach Chris Cameron said of the performance. "They were able to bunch up and we got a lot of finishers in the top 10 which really helped our team score."
In addition to the top three, sophomore Joseph Smith (Medfield, Mass.) and freshmanAdam Gidley (Salem, N.H.) notched fifth- and sixth-place finishes, respectively, to round out the team scoring for the Warriors. Meanwhile, senior captain John Lawrence (Peabody, Mass.) also placed inside the top 10 with a ninth-place finish and overall time of 26:37.
"Hopefully we can continue to build on this," Camerson said. "I'm glad they were able to get the win, but we still have a lot of work to do, especially with tightening up the gap between our first-place runner and our fifth-place runner. But overall, a great showing from the whole team."
In the women's circuit, freshman Kerry Phelan (Peabody, Mass.) picked up another strong performance in what has already been an impressive first season with the Warriors. The rookie finished in third overall with a time of 18:49, four seconds ahead of sophomore Kelsey Grimmer (Shelton, Conn.) who finished in fourth place overall.
Racking up a seventh-place finish was senior Anne Bajor (Methuen, Mass.), while also earning a spot in the top 10 was classmate Christina Fisher (Manfield Center, Conn.). Finally, junior Fiona Coleman (Windsor, Conn.) and freshman Kristin Schmidt (Athens, N.Y.) notched back-to-back finishes in 12th and 13th place, respectively, to round out the team scoring for the Warriors.
"Overall, a great effort from the women's team, I'm glad they got the win too, but just like the guys we have to work on tightening that pack to get some more consistent results over the course of the season," Cameron said. "We've still got a ways to go, and a lot of hard work still left to put in, but we look forward to it."
Next up for the Warriors is the Alumni Meet which will be held next Saturday, Sept. 29.
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