Knights compete at Aldrich Invitational
MIddlebury, VT -
Vermont State University sent 5 of its top 6 runners to Middlebury to compete at the Aldridge Meet last Saturday. Middlebury's course is a really nice race course with just the right amount of hills and flats. "I am really happy with the results. Several of the men finished with their fastest career times which is indicative of some great races ahead." Said Coach Dunkle.
Norman Benoit led the Knights with his fastest time, erasing almost 3 minutes from his previous best. Following Norman was Oscar Lehnartz who finished with his all-time fastest 8k time of 33:49. "Between Oscar and Elijah taking such large chunks of time from their races, it gives us a depth that is getting deeper with each race. Sorta like a hurricane, you don't see coming". Rio Coursen finished 3rd for the team "running strong as usual" said Dunkle. Speaking of Elijah Boucher, here is a person who never ran under 40 minutes last year, and with some technique training has become a key runner for the team running at 36 minutes and likely to run well under 35 or faster by seasons end.
Running number 5 for the team was Connor Mazzarella. Connor stepped up when we found out our current #1 runner Trevor Kipp was sick and couldn't run on Saturday. Connor asked to be put into the squad and did the team proud with a strong run. The rest of the team is training through this past week to prepare for a pre-conference meet at Hampshire College on the 30th. In the meantime, we will be participating in a trail race Friday hosted by Norwich University. Said Dunkle, "this will be a fun meet with swag for the team and a chance to get to know the Norwich team a bit better. It's all about supporting each other and when coach McGrane asked us to participate in the Paine Mountain Trail run fundraiser for flood relief in Vermont we jumped on the opportunity to help our neighbors and have a bit of fun at the same time".
