Trio of First Year Women pace the Bobcats at the Middlebury College Aldrich XC Invitational

Middlebury College Aldrich Invitational Cross Country Meet

September 16, 2023

Middlebury, Vermont

Lilly Rother (FY/Lake Placid, NY) led the way for the women in the Middlebury College Aldrich Invitational 6K with a time of 26:47 to place 14^th.  Lilly was the first runner to finish the race from any college other than Middlebury.  Middlebury won their annual home meet with 15 points ~ the minimum a cross country team can score as they swept the top 5 spots. 

Lilly demonstrated some incredible grit, as she entered the final open field with about 250 meters before the finish, and was about 30 meters behind a pair of runners from Castleton University.  Rather than accepting that their lead was insurmountable, Lilly took off in a sprint and not only caught the pair of unsuspecting runners, she beat them to the finish.

A pair of first year students followed suit to be the second and third Bobcats to finish the 6K (3.7 miles) in 29:06 and 30:36 respectively.  Joanna Kershner (Reading, PA) finished in 24^th in her best collegiate race thus far in her collegiate career, averaging 7:49/mile.  Brooklynn Shumway (Bloomingdale, NY) finished in 30:36.  Senior captain Ellie Judice (Dayton, ME) finished the 6K event in 34:52 to place 29^th overall. 

A trio of first year runners also paced the men's team as they placed third overall in the Middlebury College 8K with 76 points, behind the host school's sweep with 15 points and Norwich University's 67 points.  Ethan Parrish (Adamant, VT) led the Bobcats with a time of 29:30.9, with Eliot Soderholm (Reston, VA) only a tenth of second behind, to finish 17^th and 18^th respectively.  This pair of runners are the first PSC runners to break the 30-minute barrier over the 8K distance this season.  This is the best team finish for the Bobcats at Middlebury since the men's team placed second at the Aldrich Invitational in 2007. 

Tyler Kirschbaum (FY/Webster, NY) placed 25^th in 30:52, establishing a PR for him of over 1:30.  Wes Burkit (JR/Bath, PA) finished in 32:26 to also earn a PR and placed 32^nd, followed by Ryan Chiari (SO/Braintree, MA) in 32:43.  This was a great race for Chiari, considering that he donated blood on Thursday.  

A total of 11 runners from Paul Smith's raced in the 8K, with senior Logan Krahn (SR/Salem, NH) finishing in 34:51, followed by Dermot O'Connor (SR/Clifton Park, NY) in 36:00, Nate Shader (JR/Schodack Landing, NY) in 36:03, Carson Wohlers (JR/Spencerport, NY) in 37:59, Ian Montgomery-Gehrt (SR/Amherst, MA) in 39:08 and Sam Wood (SO/Saratoga Springs, NY) in 44:42.  

This was the third collegiate race in three weeks, following two weekends of citizen road races in Saranac Lake and Vergennes, Vermont.  These five events have likely begun to lay the foundation for the remaining events in the coming weeks.  For the balance of the season, the collegiate cross-country races will generally be two weeks apart, giving more recovery time for the athletes. In two weeks, the team will travel to Amherst, MA to race in the Founding Tree Invitational at Hampshire College where they can experience the Yankee Small College Conference championship course a month in advance of this race.  The season will conclude in November with the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) Nationals in Uniontown, PA on November 12^th.