Poughkeepsie, NY— The Sage Colleges' men's and women's cross country teams travelled to Vassar College on Friday night to compete in the Vassar Short Course opener. The meet marked the debut as Sage's cross country coach for David Taranto who took over mid-year last year and led the track and field programs to a successful campaign.

Sage's women's team posted an impressive third place showing in the race while the Gator men's team was incomplete and did not figure into the team scoring for the night.

In the women's 3 k course, Vassar took the team crown with a score of 25 ahead of SUNY-New Paltz's 45 points. Sage posted a score of 59 to take third, while Mt. St. Mary College took fourth (92) and Bard rounded out the team scoring with a 125 to take fifth.

Sophomore Kerry Flower (Schenecactady, NY/Schalmont) picked up right where she left off during her record-setting rookie season. She led the Gators on Friday night with a time of 11:37.1 to finish in third place.  Senior Amanda Jones (West Sand Lake, NY/Columbia) took 10^th in 12:36.0, while rookie Evelyn Gile (Ballston Lake, NY/Shenendehowa) picked up 11^th in 12:41.3.

Rookie Molly Kane (Rensselaer, NY/Columbia) picked up 16^th in 13:03.0 in her collegiate debut, while sophomore Kristin McAlonen (Burnt Hills, NY/Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) was next in 13:05.9 to take 19^th. Junior Sophia Keravich (Barrington, NH/Oyster River) finished in 27^th in 14:19.1 and sophomore Giannah French (Cherry Plain, NY/Berlin) took home 39^th in 17:07.1.

Making their debut on the Sage men's cross country team on Friday, junior Holden Maynard (Schenectady, NY/Mohanasen) finished in 20^th place in 14:16.4 in the 4 K course.  Senior Arnoldo Burnett (Bronx, NY/John F. Kennedy) was 35^th in his first cross country race with a time of 16:08.9.

Sage's teams will be back in action on September 7 competing in the SUNY-Cobleskill Stephen A. Warde Invitational.