COURSE: Vassar Farm - Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
                Men: 6k; Women: 5k
 
FINISH: 
                Men: 3rd - 86 points - out of 6 teams
                Women: 3rd - 72 points - out of 6 teams
 
SHORT STORY: Graduate student Tess Fitzmaurice and junior Skyler Smith led the Great Danes with two top-10 finishes in the first race of the season, Saturday morning.
 
KEY NOTES

• After transferring to Syracuse as a junior, this was Fitzmaurice's first race back in a UAlbany uniform since leaving after the 2022-23 season.
• Senior Jared Rogalski finished about nine seconds quicker than his 2023 time on the same course.
• Sophomore Isaac Graber shaved 20 seconds from his 2023 time.
• Junior Skyler Smith decreased her 2023 time by nearly 90 seconds.
• Senior Katie Iocca finished 35.8 seconds faster than in 2023 on the same course.
• Junior Hannah Steiner ran about six seconds faster than in 2023.
• The men's scoring gap was 31.3 seconds. The women's scoring gap was 49.4 seconds.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The men raced first in the season opener, the Marist Invitational, over a shorter course of 6k. 
• Senior transfer Chris Bertola finished first for the Great Danes. Covering the six kilometers in 19:12.4, he finished 13th overall. 
• Jed Elmbarki, a junior transfer, completed his first race with UAlbany as the second-best Great Dane. He finished 18th in 19:22.4. Graduate student Tom Ragone finished the 6k right behind Elmbarki - 19:24.3.
• Jared Rogalski (19:28.1) and Isaac Graber (19:43.7) rounded out the men's team scorers in 20th- and 27th place, respectively.
• The men's scoring gap was 31.3 seconds.
• In her first race as a Great Dane since the 2022-23 indoor season, Tess Fitzmaurice led the team with a sixth-place finish in 18:29.0.
• Skyler Smith rounded out the top 10 on the 5k course in 18:39.9.
• Adding a top-20 finish, junior Alondra Cruz-Delgado placed 15th with a time of 19:09.3.
• Katie Iocca (19:34.4) and Hannah Steiner (20:18.4) rounded out the women's team scorers in 23rd- and 34th place, respectively. 

 
NEXT: The Great Danes will be back in action in about two weeks at the Paddy Doyle Invitational hosted by Iona (Sept. 13).
 
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