Freshmen Kyle Dash (FR - Forest Recreation/Resource Management; Java Village, NY/Pioneer HS) and Ashley Rokjer (FR - Culinary Arts Service Management; Cropseyville, NY/Berlin HS) were just announced as Sunrise Conference Players of the Week for Men's and Women's XC respectively.

Dash paced the conference leading Bobcats to a fourth place team finish at the Cross Country Only Championships (CCOC) Meet hosted by William Smith College held at Seneca Lake State Park. Dash placed fourteenth in a PR time of 27:35, cutting 1:45 off his best 8km (4.97 miles) time. Three of the members of the men's team placed in the top thirty, including Matt Piper (27:39) and Jacob Dillon (29:09).

Ashley Rokjer has been following in the footsteps of Conference leading Jessie Gardner (SR - Fish and Wildlife Management; Hudson, NY; Hudson HS) this season. Gardner placed fifth overall in the 5Km event at the CCOC event this past Saturday in a career best time of 20:12, followed by Rokjer in 21:05 in 17th place. The Paul Smith's College women's team retained their number one ranking in the Sunrise Conference this week, yet they will face a stiff challenge from the University of Maine - Presque Isle in the Conference Championships on November 4th in Presque Isle.

Both the men's and women's teams have been working diligently each day, taking off significant time at their respective races this season. They seemed a bit drained following the SUNY - Geneseo Invitational a couple weeks ago, having raced three races in fifteen days, but they truly attacked the course at Seneca Lake State Park this past Saturday. The teams from Clarkson, Hobart/William Smith, and Daemen all finished ahead of both our teams, but with so many freshmen playing key roles on our men's and women's teams, it looks like we'll be in good hands in the next couple years. I had asked the men's team to ensure a win over our academic rival ~ SUNY - ESF, and they did so this past weekend. There is no doubt that SUNY - ESF has a couple outstanding solid runners on their roster, and their team will be quite a force in the future. It is great to see this school with similar academic offerings involved in inter-collegiate athletics.

On the women's side, Paul Smith's College placed sixth out of ten complete teams (four other colleges had incomplete teams). In addition to Clarkson, William Smith and Daemen, SUNY - ESF and D'Youville finished just ahead of PSC. D'Youville placed fifth, a single point ahead of PSC... Locally, both the men’s and women's teams from PSC finished well ahead of both SUNY Potsdam and SUNY - Canton.

This coming weekend, while our Bobcat Rugby team will be a battle of their own in Potsdam (versus Clarkson), both our running squads will be competing in the Saratoga Invitational hosted by RPI.