Cross Country Races at Smith College Invitational

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. – Elms College junior Jesse Zina (Ludlow, Mass.) clocked a time of 33:01.46 in the men's 8-kilometer race and junior Devon DeGrazia (Westport, Mass.) registered a time of 24:17.80 in the women's 5-kilometer race to lead the Blazers at the Smith College Invitational on Saturday afternoon in Northampton, Mass.

WPI earned top team honors on the men's side with 48 total points, while Springfield College (54) and the US Coast Guard Academy (58) rounded out the top three team finishes in the men's race. Springfield's Anthony Salvucci was the top men's individual finisher with a time of 26:47.20.

On the women's side, Wellesley College earned 54 points to finish first overall, followed by host Smith (55) and the Coast Guard Academy rounding out the top three team finishes in the women's race. The Pioneers' Kylee Drugan-Eppich won the 5-kilometer race with a time of 19:59.41.

For the men, freshman Adam Kuzdzal (Chicopee, Mass.) competed in his first-ever 8-kilometer race and registered a time of 37:54.33.

For the women, the Blazers received strong performances from DeGrazia, freshman Emma Bernard (Springfield, Mass.) and juniors Kerry Ashe (Springfield, Mass.) and Gabrielle Calvanese (Agawam, Mass.) as both clocked their best-ever times at the Smith Invitational with marks of 28:02.93 and 28:05.68 respectively.

Sophomore Shirley Ryan (Brimfield, Mass.)  also completed her first-ever 5-kilometer run in a time of 33:09.58. 

Elms returns to action at the Daniel Webster College Eagle Invitational on Friday, Sept. 14 in Nashua, N.H.