HARTFORD, Conn. - Hartford Men's Cross Country opened up their season on Saturday, September 12th hosting their third annual University of Hartford Invitational at Keney Park. The Hawks finished in 4th place out of 11 total teams landing themselves with two top 20 finishes.
Rapid Recap:
- Hartford was led by junior Owen Klein (Coventry, R.I.) who placed fourth overall with a time of 16:09.2 in the 5K.
- Senior Keller Casey (Charlton, N.Y) was next to cross the line for Hartford placing 18th with a time of 16:47.4.
- Senior Trae McIntyre (Troy, N.Y.), and sophomore Mikael Isaacs (Danbury, Conn.), closed out the scorers coming in 26th and 33rd place with times of 17:04.1 and 17:12.4. With that time, Isaacs recorded a new personal best.
- University of Connecticut would be the top team today with a final score of 35 and three different top 10 finishes.
Post-Race Press:
"The first race back is always difficult. It was nice to have some competition with some in conference teams early in the season. The team as a whole had a very promising start. We did a lot of things right today and we know where we still need to improve going into 8k races later in the season. We have our first full distance race next week which will be a good test after today's rust-buster," Klein says.
"As Coach when hosting your own meet, there's obviously a ton of stress that goes into it", said head coach Connor Green. "Lots of planning, last-minute changes, organizational details that are always at the front of our mind, but having a great team like ours truly makes it all worthwhile. Not only did we get a great showing from our track and field program helping run the meet but our cross country athletes absolutely surpassed expectations today. Many showed up in excellent form ready to compete. Others got their first taste of collegiate running and for those that may not have had the day that they wanted, they were lifted up by their teammates in a really positive way. We're very excited for the future of this program and looking forward to see what the rest of the season has in store."
Up Next:
The Hawks will travel to Robert Dowd Cross Country Course to compete in the UMass Dartmouth Invitational on September 19th.
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