Lydia Smith Wins Region III Championship

The SUNY Erie cross country team opened its championship season at the NJCAA Region III Championships, hosted by Finger Lakes Community College. 

In the women's 5k race, Lydia Smith gapped the field early and maintained her lead all the way through, winning the overall title with a time of 20:52. She was joined on the All-Region Team by Madison Baird, who ran a solid race to finish 6^th place in 23:52.  

In the men's 8k race, Christopher Davis led the Kats with a 24th place finish in 31:51. Eugene Bush was 57^th place in 49:20. David Gregoire entered the race recovering from illness and was unable to finish the competition.  

"We came to Regionals with a small but mighty squad," stated Head Coach Chris Muldoon. "Just about every runner has either been sick or hurt since our last meet. I'm proud that we came and took care of business today. Obviously, Lydia winning the race was exciting – and she seemed very in control the whole time. And I thought Madison, Chris, and Eugene all ran hard and competed well. We just need to get healthy for Nationals in two weeks." 

The cross country season concludes their season at the NJCAA Division III Cross Country Championship in Westfield, MA, on Saturday, November 5.