Guarinos lead men, frosh shine for women
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Cross country
RELATED: Women's Results/Men's Results
GRAND ISLAND, N.Y. – The Fredonia State men were second and the women fifth Saturday at the season opening Daniel Walker Invitational at Beaver Island State Park.
Twin brothers Nick and Josh Guarino (Bergen/Byron-Bergen) finished second and sixth, respectively, each with a big kick down the home stretch. Nick, a two-time national track champion, crossed the finish line in 25:16 for 8,000 meters, while Josh – fighting through a side ache early in the race – stopped the clock in 25:55.
The Guarinos are seniors.
Rounding out the top five were sophomore Ryan Delaney (Coram/Longwood) in 15th place (26:53), sophomore Jake Krautwurst (LeRoy) in 21st (27:03), and sophomore Adam Steves (Collins/Gowanda) in 32nd (28:24). The Blue Devils totaled 71 team points, second only to NCAA Division II Edinboro, and ahead of Mount Union, ranked No. 21 in the most recent NCAA Division III poll.
In the women’s 5,000-meter race, freshman Becca List (Hilton) finished ninth overall in her first collegiate race with a time of 19:32. Next for the Blue Devils was freshman Lauren Truby (Spencerport), 20th in 20:08; freshman Gretchen Herb (Lewiston/Lewiston-Porter), 31st in 20:31; junior Amanda Solly (West Seneca/West Seneca East), 41st in 20:53; and sophomore Kateri Walsh (West Seneca/Mount Mercy), 47th in 21:14.
“It was a nice young nucleus,” said head coach Mike Garger, who was coaching his first college event after a highly successful high school coaching career. It was also the first collegiate race for all the freshmen and the first cross country race of any kind for Herb, who played soccer and ran track in high school.
The Blue Devil women had a team score of 135 points. They finished ahead of SUNYAC foe Brockport, which holds a top 10 Atlantic Regional ranking.