After having last weekend off, the Oswego State women’s cross country team will look to finish in the top three  at this weekend’s Roberts Wesleyan Invitational. Something they have failed to do so since the SUNY Poly Wildcat Invitational on Sept. 3 of the 2015 season.

The Lakers have gotten off to a solid start this season, finishing in the top five of both of their meets. They finished fourth out of seven teams in the Oswego State invitational which took place on Sept. 10. There is always room for improvement according to head coach Sarah Ritchie.

“Going into Roberts Weselyan we just want to keep improving on closing our gaps from our first to fifth runner that’s really how you win championships,” Ritchie said.

A big reason why Coach Ritchie is so confident in her squad every week is because of this year’s freshman class whom she relies heavily on.

“Having the confidence in the freshman they got their first race in,” Ritchie said.” This weekend it will still be a 5k race so I think that will help a lot.”

The Lakers meet at Roberts Weselyan will be ran on a true cross country course, which has the feeling of a race ran by yourself with no outside distraction.

“They’re in the woods by themselves for quite a bit of the race,” Ritchie said. “So it’s hard to get spectators back there and hear your coaches cheering for you,”

Having been in season for almost a month and a half, the girls seem to be getting into better shape and Ritchie hopes that results in a few breakout races for some runners.

Senior Lauren McNamara has had a solid start to her senior year for the Lakers as she has placed in the top 20 of the field in both races, and ran her second best time of her career for the 5K race.

“I think I started the season off better than I did last year so I was happy to see that,” McNamara said. ”All the training and stuff over the summer and during the preseason has payed off.”

Being a senior McNamara is one of the leaders on the teams in practice and during meets, McNamara is a girl that the underclassmen on the roster look up to and follow her lead.

“We take it day by day,” McNamara said.  A lot of them aren’t use to the mileage and stuff like that but we just try and keep them positive and get them through the runs.”

McNamara is always looking to improve each and every week both individually and as a team. She knows that this is her last year and wants to make the most out of every race she has left in her collegiate career.

Junior Morgan Brooner also feels that she has started the 2016 campaign in a positive way and better than the last two years as a Laker.

“From the start I definitely feel like I’m starting out better than I have the past couple of years,” Bronner said.  “Especially with the time trials in the beginning of the season.”

Oswego State has had trouble beating Buffalo State and according to Brooner that’s one of the main goals this season is to be able to beat the Bengals.

The Lakers ended the 2015 season on a sour note with a 9th place finish in the SUNYAC Championship and a 27th place finish in the NCAA Championships. They also took home a 12th place finish at last year’s meet at Roberts Wesleyan.

The Roberts Weselyan Invitational will take place at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday in Rochester, New York.