Women win Raider XC Invitational, Men finish in close 2nd

Results: Raider Invitational 2013 Results/Times

NASHUA, NH. – The annual Raider Invitational took place this afternoon on the beautiful campus of Rivier University. The Raiders took home the top place finish and the team championship on the women's side of the race while New Hampshire Technical Institute edge the Raider Men, 30-31 to claim the Men's Team Championship.

The unique course which features a step hill, rugged wooded trails and pavement was the site for the annual meet. It was a beautiful day weather wise as there were clear skies and a temperature around 67 degrees at race time.

The women's 5K race featured the Raiders claiming the top four spots en route to winning the team championship over Suffolk University and Pine Manor College. The Raiders finished the race with a team total of 16 points. Suffolk finished with 51 points and Pine Manor came in third with 67 total points. This race also doubled as a Dual Meet as the Raiders and Gators went head to head with Rivier winning that meet 15-48.

Rivier University senior Vanessa Viola (Nashua, NH) cruised to a first place finish as she crossed the line at 21:12, a minute faster than sophomore teammate Christina Dick (Tewksbury, MA) who finished second with a 22:11 time. Freshman Kathleen Maggio (Londonderry, NH)and senior Laura DeChristoforo (Burlington, MA) were right behind Dick – crossing the line at 22:16 and 22:28 respectively. Freshman Kim Willett (Suffield, CT) finished sixth overall to round out the scoring for the Raiders with a 23:14 time.

Suffolk's Bridget Evangelista and Cori Simmons recorded top ten finishes as they were able to complete the course with times of 22:51 and 24:02. Evangelista was the fifth best finish while Simmons was eighth.

Pine Manor had one top ten finisher with Maria Vaughan checking in at 24:14, which was good for 9th place overall. The other four Gators had finishes of 16th, 18th, 19th and 21st.

In the head-to-head dual meet, the Raiders had all five finishes in the top five while the Gators had the 6th and 9th through 12th places.

On the men's side, the race was decided by one point as New Hampshire Technical Institute capture the team championship over Rivier with a 30-31 score.

NHTI's Nacho Hernando was the fastest runner as he set the mark, crossing the line at 25:38. Rivier senior Alec Davis (Amherst, NH) came in second at 27:21 while freshman Matt Jardin (Lakeville, MA) finished third with a time of 28:28. Quinn Parker of NHTI and Suffolk's Nathan Pembelton rounded out the top five as Parker ran to a 4th place finish at 28:51 and Pembelton crossed at 29:25.

Sophomore Cullen Donovan (Wethersfield, CT) ran a solid race to finish 6th with a time of 29:57 and NHTI took the next two slots as Mark Roy and Joe Bohi recorded times of 30:03 and 30:52 for 7th and 8th place.

In what turned out to be the finish of the day, Rivier freshman Joe Fitzgerald (Wilmington, MA) edged NHTI's Brian Fox by one second to determine the 9th and 10th place finish. Fitzgerald recorded a time of 31:04.

Suffolk came in third place as a team while Daniel Webster College finished fourth.