The Oswego State men’s and women’s cross-country teams ran their first home meet of the 2024 season at Fallbrook Recreation Center this Saturday. 

Both men’s and women’s teams finished in third place out of seven teams in the men’s heat, and five teams in the women’s. Several Lakers recorded personal bests during the meet.

On the men’s side for Oswego, it was Freshman Noah Melita leading the way for the 6k race. Melita finished in fourth place overall out of 96 total runners, in a fast time of 20:06. Coming in next for the Lakers were three consecutive finishes by seniors Henry Rose, Matthew Pietzak, and Andrew Deming, coming in 20th, 21st, and 22nd place, with times of 21:03, 21:05, and 21:06. All these times were personal bests for the Lakers. senior Miguel Tineo Reyes was the fifth Laker and thirtieth overall runner to cross the finish line, in a time of 21:30. Unfortunately, these efforts were not enough to secure a victory as SUNY Cortland finished with five of the top ten runners and placed first in the meet, followed by SUNY Oneonta in second place. The Lakers finished above SUNY-ESF,  SUNY Morrisville, Onondaga Community College, and SUNY Potsdam. 

Other notable finishers for Oswego included sophomore Thomas Bowes, coming in at 34th place with a time of 21:42, and freshman Jeffrey Simmons at 42nd place with a time of 22:01. Runners Bee Lamsma, Tyler Yocum, Aidan Hafer, and Tom Mahunik closed out the race for the Lakers. 

As for the women’s race, senior Faith Coyle showed an impressive performance for the Lakers, finishing in second place overall out of 60 runners in the 4k. Coyle recorded a personal best of 15:54, an impressive time. Next up, junior Cristina Gaskievicz finished in 19th place followed by freshman Jessica Torrey in 20th place, with times of 17:18 and 17:25, a personal best for Torrey. senior Gretchen Dowd was not too far behind, finishing in 22nd place with a time of 17:33, a personal best. junior Julia Weaver closed out the scoring for the Lakers, coming in 35th place with a time of 18:25, a personal best for Weaver. The Lakers finished third overall in the race, coming in behind Cortland State in second place, and Oneonta in first place, and finishing above SUNY-ESF and Morrisville State. 

Other notable finishers from the women’s race included freshman Angelina Buttigieg coming in 41st place with a time of 18:54, and freshman Sophia Shatynski in 45th place with a time of 19:23. Jackie Janicki and Rhiannon Butchko finished in 55th and 56th place for the Lakers.

The Lakers had the privilege of honoring their senior runners before the meet began, taking time to celebrate Matthew Pietzak, Henry Rose, Andrew Deming, Miguel Tineo Reyes, Gretchen Dowd, Faith Coyle, and Jackie Janicki. 

The Oswego cross-country teams will not race again until Sept. 28 at 10 a.m., when they travel to Roberts Wesleyan University in Rochester to participate in the Harry F. Anderson Invitational. The Lakers will try to use this momentum heading into a long three week break between meets and improve their finishing spot next time.

Photo by: Oswego Athletics