Cross Country at the Connecticut College Invitational
Saturday, October 19 | 10 a.m. (Women-White), 11 a.m. (Men-White), 1 p.m. (Men-Blue)
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 annual Connecticut College Invitational at Harkness Park in Waterford, Conn.
• The women's 6k races will start at 10 a.m. (White) and 12 p.m. (Blue) and will be followed by the men's 8k events at 11 a.m. (White) and 1 p.m. (Blue).
• The Beaver women will compete in the White race and the top 8 Beaver men will run in the Blue race with the others taking part in the White race.

RACE HISTORY
• The Connecticut College Invitational has been held every year going back to 1985, with the exception of 2020 due to the pandemic.

LAST YEAR AT CONNECTICUT COLLEGE
• Senior Anthony Rodriguez broke his own program record of 24:22 on the way to a third-place finish, leading the Babson men's team to 17th place out of 26 schools on October 14, 2023 at Harkness Park. The Babson women's squad posted numerous career-best times while placing 26th as a team.
• Senior Julian Ivarra was the second Babson men's finisher, placing 67th in a career-best time of 25:50, bettering his previous best by 22 seconds. Sophomore Ethan Jina finished 140th in a time of 26:52, lowering his PR by a minute and 17 seconds.
• Senior Ali Thomas was Babson's top women's finisher, placing 173rd in a career-best time of 25:04, which is 35 seconds better than her previous PR set on the same course last year. Alyssa Keith '24 was six spots back in 179th in a time of 25:18.

SCOUTING THE BABSON MEN
• The Beavers are coming off a 17th place out of 46 squads at the Division III Pre-National meet on the LaVern Gibson Course in Terre Haute, Ind., back on October 4.
• Rodriguez came in sixth overall out of 405 competitors on the 8k course with a time of 24:35 that ranks as the third fastest in program history. First-year Nick Yacoub placed 49th for the Beavers with a time of 25:29.72, while Ivarra came in 74th with a time of 25:51.
• Graduate student Ryan Wilson finished 208th in a time of 27:03, sophomore Almond Nickerson IV was 241st in 27:21 and first-year Sam Zabbo was eight seconds behind him in 253rd position. Sophomores John Hanscom and Brian Gall were separated by a tenth of a second in 273rd and 274th place, respectively. 

SCOUTING THE BABSON WOMEN
• The Beavers turned in a seventh-place finish out of 23 schools at the Keene State Invitational back on October 5 in Keene, N.H.
• First-year Shriya Peddi finished 18th overall out of 240 runners, running the 5K course in a time of 18:46, which ranks as the seventh-fastest time in program history and fastest since Stephanie Rodriguez '20 finished in 18:30 at Keene State in 2019. 
• Junior Chloe Clifford was the second finisher for the Green and White, coming in 46th in a career-best time of 19:37. First-year Sophia Draxler and Thomas were 51st and 54th, respectively, and junior Alexandra Kirkpatrick rounded out the scorers in 72nd in 20:17. Thomas and Kirkpatrick eclipsed their career best times by more than four minutes each.

NEWMAC RUNNER OF THE WEEK
• Rodriguez was named New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Men's Runner of the Week on October 7 for the second time this season.
• The two-time NCAA Division III Championships qualifier recorded the third fastest time of his career to place sixth at the Division III Pre-National meet in Terre Haute, Ind., on October 4, and was the only New England harrier to finish among the top 10.

FAST TIMES AT HARKNESS PARK
• In addition to his program-record time of 24:22 in last year's meet, Rodriguez's time of 24:58 in the 2022 Connecticut College Invitational ranks as the third fastest 8k time in program history.
• Matthew Dynan '19 posted two of the top 25 times in program history at Harkness Park, finishing in 25:38 in both 2016 and 2017. Stephanie Rodriguez '20 ran the 20th fastest time in women's program history with a 6K time of 23:39 in 2018.

HOLDING STEADY IN THE RANKINGS
• The Babson men are ranked seventh in the latest USTFCCCA East Region poll.
• The Beavers are third among schools from the NEWMAC behind MIT (1st) and WPI (5th).
• MIT (1st) and Wellesley (6th) are the only two NEWMAC programs in the East Region women's poll.

UP NEXT
• The Beavers will have a week off before the NEWMAC Championships on November 2 at Nehoiden Golf Course in Wellesley, Mass.