Men's Results Women's Results NEW BRITAIN, CT—The NJIT men's and women's cross country teams competed at the 13th Annual Ted Owen Invitational hosted by Central Connecticut State at Stanley Quarter Park.
Junior top returner Zakaria Fouad led the NJIT men in the 8k race with a time of 27:31 and broke the NJIT course record previously held by teammate Blake Brancato, running almost three minutes faster than last year on this course.
"I was very pleased with our performances today and are ready to enter the next phase of our season as we prepare for our home opener next week," head coach Al Alonso commented after the Invitational.
Foud was followed by Arthur Smith at 28:28 and Kevin Ratigan, who matched his time of 28:30 from last season.
Freshman Nicholas Ramirez broke the freshman NJIT course record previously held by Liam McSpiritt. Newcomer Carlos Skerrett and McSpiritt rounded out the top six for NJIT completing the course at 30:28 and 30:30 respectively.
CCSU scored only 32 total points to claim the victory and had a team average time of 26:50. Behind the Blue Devils was Hartford, which scored 55 points to finish in second place. Marist (69), Stonehill (102), and Army (146) rounded out the top five. NJIT (154), Cobleskill (180), New Haven (219), Queens (NY) (229) and Dowling (289) were the next five schools.
Senior Maryam Haque led the Highlander women, finishing with a time of 20:42 and breaking her own NJIT course record.
Kelli Hesse followed Haque with a time of 21:27, running almost three minutes faster than last season. Freshman Emily Shibata set the NJIT freshman record with a time of 21:47 previously held by Katy Nyby.
Newcomer Michelle Ling completed the course at 22:05 while Rosa Moss entered the racing rotation with a time of 24:38.
CCSU placed fourth in the team standings with 81 total points and an average team time of 19:29.6. Stonehill placed first with 35 points and was followed by Rhode Island (55) and Marist (80). New Haven (150) rounded out the top five teams. Hartford (157), Cobleskill (188), NJIT (232) and Queens (NY) (242) rounded out the competing teams.
NJIT will return to action on October 3 when the Highlanders host the Highlander XC Challenge at Branch Brook Park.
