Herkimer Harriers Win Second Place

Utica, NY.  Herkimer County Community College’s Cross Country team ran in their season opener at SUNY IT on September 4.  Both the men’s and the women’s teams finished second in their division (Men: 38; Women: 30) behind Mohawk Valley Community College (Men: 23; Women: 27). 

The women’s team had four runners place in the top 20 of the 90 runners entered.  Seasoned veteran Mollianne Parsons picked up where she left off last season, leading the women’s team and finishing with a time of 22:07.  That earned her a ninth place spot.  Fellow sophomore Melissa Wagner was mere seconds behind her at 22:37, and newcomer Samantha Lawson finished soon after with a time of 22:51.  Sophomore Stephanie Bergstrom ran a strong race (22:59) and sophomore newcomer Courtney Hibbard rounded out the pack with a time of 29:53.  The top four women finished within a minute of each other, making for an extremely competitive split. 

On the men’s side, freshman Josh Sheldon led the pack with an outstanding time of 21:25, finishing second in the division.  Freshman Mike Elleman was only six seconds behind, at 21:31.  Andrew Gregg and Josh Wilcox ran well together, finishing 21:55 and 22:01 respectively.  Shawon Rivers and Jared Lidano rounded out the pack with times of 23:47 and 25:39 respectively. 

Head Coach Julie DelMedico called the outing “an excellent start to what looks to be an ultra-competitive season for the cross country teams.” 

Both the men and women compete again this weekend as they face SUNY Cobleskill and a host of other four-year powerhouses.  The meet will be at SUNY Cobleskill on Saturday, September 11.