Cross Country at the Connecticut College Invitational
Saturday, October 14 | 12:00 p.m. (Men), 1:00 p.m. (Women)
Harkness Park | Waterford, Conn.

Meet Information

THE SETUP
• The Babson men's and women's cross country teams will compete in the final race of the regular season this Saturday when they run in the Connecticut College Invitational at Harkness Park in Waterford, Conn.
• The men's 8k race is set to start at 12 p.m. and will be followed by the women's 6k meet at 1 p.m.

RACE HISTORY
• The Connecticut College Invitational has been held every year going back to 1985, with the exception of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The women's event is named the Caroline Grape '22 Memorial Championship Race, in honor of a former Camel cross country and track & field team member who passed away in 2019 from a rare form of sarcoma called CIC Dux4.

LAST YEAR AT CONNECTICUT COLLEGE
• Senior Anthony Rodriguez led the Babson men's team with a 24th place finish in the prestigious Connecticut College Invitational blue race while the rest of the squad competed in the white race and earned a fifth place finish out of 15 schools on October 15, 2022, in Harkness Park.
• The Beavers had two runners among the top six finishers in the white race, which included 132 entries, and had five season-best times. Ryan Wilson '23M took third place in a time of 26:16 while junior Julian Ivarra crossed the line in sixth place, matching his season-best time of 26:29.
• Sophomore Chloe Clifford was the first Beaver across the finish line in the women's race, taking 24th place among the 113 runners in a season-best time of 24:45 for the 6k race. She was followed by classmate Alexandra Kirkpatrick, who placed 39th with a time of 25:24.

SCOUTING THE BABSON MEN
• The Beavers are coming off a ninth-place finish among 20 schools at the Dickinson Long-Short Invitational back on September 23 at Big Spring High School in Newville, Pa.
• Rodriguez captured his third career victory, outrunning the field of 185 competitors in a time of 25:18, the 11th fastest in program history in an 8K race and the seventh best in his career.
• Ivarra was the next Babson finisher across the finish line with an impressive 28th place in a time of 26:35. First-year Ethan Jina and sophomore Max Gregoire placed 86th and 87th in times of 28:09 and 28:10, respectively, and first-years Almond Nickerson IV and Brian Gall came across in 117th and 118th place in 28:57 and 28:58, respectively.

SCOUTING THE BABSON WOMEN
• The Beavers finished in 17th place out of 24 schools at the Dickinson Long-Short Invitational back on September 23 at Big Spring High School in Newville, Pa.
• Senior Alyssa Keith was Babson's top finisher in 90th place in the 6K race in a time of 25:34, while first-year Isabella Mozilo made her first collegiate appearance and crossed the line in 110th place with a time of 26:14.
• Sophomore Avery Butt was Babson's third finisher in 119th place in 26:34, followed by junior Eujin Shin and first-year Colleen Corman in 132nd and 133rd in 27:50 and 27:57, respectively.

FAST TIMES AT HARKNESS PARK
• Rodriguez's time of 24:58.5 in the 2022 Connecticut College Invitational ranks as the second fastest 8k time in program history, behind only his own mark of 24:29 set at the 2021 UMass Dartmouth Invitational.
• Babson's Matthew Dynan '19 posted two of the top 20 times in program history at Harkness Park, finishing in 25:38 in 2016 and 25:38 in 2017.

WELCOME BACK COACH SITARSKI
• Head coach Russ Brennen has announced the hiring of Brent Sitarski '22 as the program's new full-time assistant coach. Sitarski returns to Babson after serving as an assistant coach at Wheaton College and Wentworth Institute of Technology in 2022-23.
• Sitarski was a four-year member of both the cross country and track & field squads at Babson and was a two-time captain for both programs. Competing primarily in the discus, hammer and javelin throws, he graduated with a school record in the hammer set at the 2022 NEWMAC Championships. 

BABSON MEN IN THE RANKINGS
• The Babson men are eighth in this week's East Region rankings released by the US Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) and third among schools from schools from the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC).
• The top five in the poll include MIT, Tufts, Bowdoin, Bowdoin and WPI. The bottom half of the poll includes Plymouth State, Suffolk, Babson, Brandeis and Colby.

UP NEXT
• The Beavers will have a week off before the NEWMAC Championships on October 28 at Smith College in Northampton, Mass.