The Dickinson men’s and women’s cross country squads had a great showing at the Purple Valley Classic, hosted by Williams College on Saturday, September 24. The Red Devils, ranked 32nd in the latest national poll, finished eighth out of 23 teams in a field full of ranked opponents.

Dickinson finished ahead of No. 25 NYU and No. 28 Tufts University and look forward to moving up in this week’s poll.

Mason Hepner ’17 led the Red Devils to the finish in the 8K men’s race, placing 24th with a time of 26:09. Eric Hermann ’19 finished in the top-50 with a time of 26:43.

Nathan Udell ’18 and Bryce Descavish ’20 crossed the line alongside each other, posting times of 26:55 and 26:57, respectively. Duncan Hopkins ’19 finished with a mark of 27:08, while Patrick Nolan ‘17 rounded Dickinson’s finishers in the top-100 with a time of 27:21.

No. 2-ranked SUNY Geneseo lived up to its ranking, taking first place in the team competition and holding off No. 3-ranked Williams with No. 6 MIT coming in third.

The Red Devil women, ranked 30th in the nation, came in sixth overall, finishing ahead of No. 8-ranked Middlebury, No. 11 RPI and No. 14 Ithaca College.

Sofia Canning ’18 came in fifth overall in the individual standings, finishing the race in 22:18. Molly Conrad ‘20 and Tessa Cassidy ’20 came home 33rd and 37th, posting times of 23:15 and 23:18, respectively.

Kelsey Horowitz ’18 and Adriana Frayne-Reixa ’17 clocked times of 23:34 and 23:41, respectively. Lucile Ionescu ’19 and Sarah House ‘20 crossed the line at 24:01 and 24:32.

No. 2-ranked SUNY Geneseo, as in the men’s competition, took home the team title while No. 5 MIT also finished in front of top-ranked Williams.

McKenna Spaulding ‘20 finished in the top 10 of the women’s 5K with a time of 20:56 while Caitlin Farrell ’18 was 12th with a mark of 21:19.

Both the men’s and women’s teams return home to host the Dickinson Long/Short Course Invitational on Saturday, October 1 at Big Spring High School in Newville, Pa.