Bryant hosts Nassaney Invitational Saturday morning

The 17^th annual Nassaney Invitational is set to begin on Saturday, and with it brings the beginning of the Bryant men's and women's cross country seasons. The women's 5K race is scheduled to start at 10:15 a.m., while the men's 8K will follow after at 10:45 a.m.

The women's team brings back some familiar faces in 2017. Senior Melissa Lodge (Hopkinton, Massachusetts) is coming off of a track & field season that saw her win a gold medal in the 1500-meter at the NEC Championships, as well as a silver medal in the 5K. Last fall, Lodge was named to the All-NEC team after finishing 11th at the NEC Cross Country Championships.

For the men, Alexander Evans (Bow, New Hampshire) returns after missing the 2016 season but was named to the NEC All-Academic team for his performance in the classroom. Matt McGovern (Long Beach, New York) returns for his junior season in 2017 after finishing 24th at the NEC Championships a year ago.

Seven schools, including Bryant, are set to run in the 2017 race. For the women, Bryant, Hartford, Providence, Rhode Island, Siena, Holy Cross and Brown will run the 5K, which circles the athletic fields of Bryant University. The men have the same participants, with the exception of Brown, whose men's team will be at the Columbia Invitational in New York.

Last season, then-freshman Jacklyn Sullivan (Plymouth, Massachusetts) finished 32nd among the 67 participants, finishing the course 19:31, the best finish by a returning Bulldog. Classmate Olivia Weiss (Newton, New Jersey) also had a good run, finishing in 20:04.

The men finished fourth overall as a unit, with graduated senior Milan Duka finishing sixth overall. McGovern had the best finish of any returning Bryant runner, finishing 23rd with a time of 27:42 in the 8K course. Harrison McKinlay (Sutton, Massachusetts) also finished with a sub-30 minute time, finishing with a 29:55 mark.

As with the previous Nassaney Invitational runs, the day will start with the 9 a.m. Shawn M. Nassaney Memorial Race/Walk to start things off. At 9:45 a.m., the Children's Race, a one-mile course, will begin.