Women's Results | Men's Results
PURCHASE, N.Y.—Sarah Lawrence College women's and men's cross country hit the trail for the first time this season, competing at the 6th Annual Purchase College Cross Country Invitational on Saturday. SLC sophomore Caleb Jaster (New Hampton, N.H./Sant Bani) highlighted the effort with a third-place finish in the men's 8km race.
In the women's race, Gryphon Pauline Stanfiel (South Bend, Ind./John Adams) kept pace with the race leaders for the first half mile before settling into a steady pace. She crossed the line of the 5km (3.1 mile) course in a time of 25:58.85, an improvement of 40 seconds over her run at the 2012 event.
"The women had an intense start," recalled Head Coach Erin Pomykala, "but despite that, they held their own and ran consistently with the majority of the pack."
Katie Zimmerman finished the course in 28:34.81, while rookie Kate Cassirer (Manhattan, N.Y./Spence School) followed close behind in 29:23.26. Both bested more than a dozen runners in the 68-woman field.
On the men's side, Jaster posted a strong effort and capitalized on the mistakes of other front runners. His impressive performance shaved a minute off of his showing at the 2012 invitational, and his time of 33:36.38 was third-best among a field of just under 40 runners.
Making his collegiate debut, rookie Justin Heftel (Spokane, Wash./Saint George's School) pushed hard and remained positive throughout his first race, finishing the five-mile course in 40:27.22.
Pomykala continued, "both teams excelled with their times. It was a great start to the season, and we look forward to improving next week at Queensboro."
Both teams next race at the Queensborough Community College Invitational on Sunday, Sept. 15. The race will be held at Van Courtlandt Park in The Bronx, N.Y.
