Both the men’s and women’s cross-country teams competed at the Rochester Yellowjacket Invitational on Sept. 19, where the men placed fourth and the women placed fifth.

The men’s team accumulated 137 points, and five of its top runners were in the top 50 out of the 243 who competed in the 8K.

Coming in first for the Bombers was senior Sawyer Hitchcock, followed by sophomore Tim Chappell. Sawyer placed third overall finishing in a time of 26:11.6. Chappell was not too far behind, coming across the finish line in 27:00.3 and placing 24th. Only two of the three runners ahead of Hitchcock were active members of Division III.

Juniors Sean Phillips and Jesse Capellaro, and senior Brendan Davis rounded out the top-five men for the Blue and Gold.

Sophomore Taryn Cordani led the women’s team placing third overall out of 276. She completed the race in a time of 22:03.8. Cordani was also the only Division III runner in the top 10, as the rest were Division I from Cornell University.

Sophomore Denise Ibarra, coming in second on the team, placed 40th overall with a time of 23:44.4. She was not too far ahead of the next runner, junior Michaela Cioffredi, who took 46th with a time of 23:55.9.

Freshman Emilie Mertz placed 51st, and sophomore Christina Rucinski and junior Kristin Lynn finished in 71st and 72nd, respectively, to round off the women’s top five. The women totaled 143 points in the 6K race.

The men improved from sixth to fourth and the women went from fourth to fifth since the first competitive meet for the Bombers at the Ramapo Invitational on Sept. 12.

The men’s and women’s teams have a bye before competing on the trails Oct. 3. Both teams will be at the Geneseo Invitational in Mt. Morris, New York.