The College's men's and women's cross country teams opened the fall season by winning their respective races at the Connecticut College Invitational at Harkness Park on Saturday.
Senior Matt Randal led the way for the men's squad as he broke the course record with a first place time of 25:05. The previous record was set last year by former-Lion Brian Donovan.
The men, who took first place out of the 24-team field, boasted a strong group of young runners in addition to Randal, their senior leader. Sophomore Brian Kopnicki took sixth with a time of 25:17, while fellow sophomore Galen Johnson picked up 22nd in 25:45. Freshman Chris Guerriero took 23rd, one second behind Johnson.
Sophomores Anthony Arnold and Kyle Alpaugh took 29th and 38th respectively.
The women were led by New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) runner-of-the-year, senior Jenna Fasulo, who finished in third place with a time of 18:34 on the 3.1 mile course. One second behind Fasulo was junior Kristen Pogorzelski, who picked up fourth.
Senior Kara Horner was next for the Lions in eighth (18:52), with freshman Megan O'Leary two seconds back in 10th place. On O'Leary's tail was rookie Martine McGrath in 11th.
