Bryant XC Beantown-Bound

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – After a week off the Bryant University men's and women's cross country teams get back on their feet for the New England Championships this Saturday, Oct. 8, at Franklin Park in Boston, Mass.

The Bulldogs are coming off a positive showing at the Ted Owen Invitational two weekends ago in New Britain, Conn. The men finished eighth and the women finished seventh out of ten teams. That race saw several runners improve their times from the previous week and Saturday's New England Championships gives them another opportunity to do so as well.

Bryant will be competing against a very large field on Saturday as 47 teams and over 600 runners competed in last year's race. In that race, the Bulldog women finished 42^nd and the men placed 33^rd. David Hurley (Ashaway, R.I.) led the men's squad with a time of 27:20, finishing 118^th. Sophomore Christopher Chapruet (Danvers, Mass.) was the fourth Bryant runner to cross the line. Hurley has paced the Bulldogs in each of the last two races.

Then-freshman Martha Reynolds (London, England) led the women with a time of 23:20 and a 136^th-place finish. Megan Robertson (Sewell, N.J.) finished a minute behind her and Lauren Ganim (Trumbull, Conn.) was the third Bulldog to cross the line. Sophomore-phenom Eimear Black (Glengormley, Ireland) has been the Bulldogs' top runner in each race this season, including a third-place finish at the Ted Owen Invitational.

Following this weekend's race, the Bulldogs head down the road to Providence, R.I., for the Brown Invitational on Friday, Oct. 14.