Photo Gallery (photos by Tim McKinney)

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Racing in a light rain and in unseasonably cool conditions, the Cornell cross country teams opened their 2009 seasons in impressive fashion, winning the annual dual meet with Army. Both Big Red teams also claimed the individual race winners, as freshman Genna Hartung won the women's 5K race in a new Moakley Course record of 18:21.9 and junior Nate Edelman crossed the line first in the men's 5 mile race in a time of 26:02.1. In the women's race, Hartung was not the only Cornellian to dip under the previous course record (set by Ashley Urick of Army in 2003) as freshman Katie Kellner (18:28.2) and senior captain Stephanie Pancoast (18:34.4) were also under the old standard. In the end, the Big Red women came out on top 17-44 and the Cornell men were victorious by a score of 18-42.

The women began the race with the rain picking up but the Big Red did not let the conditions slow them down as they ended up with seven of the competition's first ten finishers.  Freshman Katie Kellner was
out well, leading the Big Red charge through the mile in a fast 5:40 on the Moakley Course that features five tight turns in the first part of the layout.  With Hartung and Pancoast moving up in the middle of the race, the Big Red continued to apply the pressure to Army as the leaders hit 11:25 at two miles before entering the challenging final mile that includes the descent into, and ascent out of, the Gorge.  Also running well throughout the race was freshman Kelsey Karys, who ended up fourth overall in a very good 18:53.9, one of the top fifteen performances in Moakley Course history.  For the first time ever, the Cornell women had four runners break 19:00 on the Moakley Course on the same day and senior Erin Roberts was not far behind as the team's fifth runner, placing 7th overall in 19:07.4, a 25 second personal best on the Moakley Course.  Right behind Roberts was junior Maura Carroll, who ran 19:09.0 for 8th overall, an improvement of over a minute on her personal best on the course.  Freshman Cara Costich was the team's seventh runner, placing 9th in 19:10.5.  Also finishing in the race's top fifteen were sophomores Emma Clarke (11th, 19:16.9), Meghan Brown (13th, 19:18.0) and Shelby Herman (14th, 19:32.4) and junior Kristin Seller (15th, 19:39.5, a 30 second course PR).

The men competed in similarly wet and cool conditions.  The dual meet with Army proved to be a very tight race that was closer than the final score might indicate:  most of the top 20 were still bunched
together at 3 miles and the race remained close all the way to the finish, with the Big Red coming home strongest, taking the top two spots and six of the top seven places in the race.  Easing through the first two miles in 5:19 and then 10:45, the pace picked up in the third and fourth miles with a pair of 5:07 splits.  With the last mile of the course dominated by the Gorge, Edelman proved the strongest, running his final mile in just over 5:00, an impressive showing and nearly a minute better than his previous PR on the Moakley Course.  Right behind Edelman was senior Joel Frost-Tift, who ran 26:11.4, a 49 second improvement from his last race on this course in 2007.  Army's Zac Reiter broke up the Big Red charge with a third place finish in 26:15.2 but after him a slew of Big Red harriers sealed the team win for Cornell.  Junior Max Kasak impressed with a fourth place run of 26:16.1 and senior Brad Bogdan was fifth in 26:18.2.  Freshman Kevin Johnson had a very good collegiate debut, placing sixth in 26:19.9 to round out Cornell's top five.  Senior co-captain Dale Taylor had a 33 second course personal best to place seventh in 26:25.1; freshman Brett Kelly rounded out the Big Red's top seven with a 12th place run of 26:31.1.  Also in the top fifteen overall were freshman Adam Trofa (12th, 26:32.1), sophomore Chandler Kemp (13th, 26:36.1) and junior Drew Hart (15th, 26:39.3).

Complete results as well as pictures can be found here: men's | women's.

The Big Red women will compete next on Saturday, September 19th at the University of Buffalo Invitational.  The men have the next two weekends off before joining the women on the road at the Paul Short Cross Country Run at Lehigh on Friday, October 2nd.