Cross Country Opens 2021 Season At Lehigh Invitational

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Rutgers cross country earned a pair of top-five performances on the women’s side from Olympia Martin and Alex Carlson to guide a fourth-place team finish at the Lehigh Invitational on Friday. The men’s squad placed fifth overall.
 
The season opener marked the first meet for the Scarlet Knights since 2019 after missing last year’s campaign due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was also the first competition under the direction of head cross country coach Matthew Jelley and assistant distance coach Nicol Traynor.
 
“It was great to get back on the course after missing out on last year,” said Jelley. “We were excited to start our season. We had some solid performances with three top-20 finishes in the women’s race with Olympia leading the way at third overall, an outstanding debut by freshman Alexandra Carlson in fifth and Kiera Nealon also finishing in the top 20. On the men’s side Billy Hill and Ryan Mitchell had a solid start for us finishing 13th and 15th, respectively.”
 
Martin finished third overall with a time of 21:58.2, while Carlson ran the race in 22:05.1 to finish fifth. The Scarlet Knights also received scoring from Kiera Nealon, who placed in the top 20 with a time of 22:33.4 (19th), Brooke Riedy in 23:02.9 (30th) and Emma Baeyens in 23:23.8 (34th).
 
The men’s team was led by two top-20 finishes from Billy Hill and Ryan Mitchell. Hill placed 13th with a time of 18:48.0, followed by Mitchell in 15th with a time of 18:50.7. Adding to the team totals were Will Berger in 30th (18:57.3), Patrick Walsh in 38th (19:04.9) and Dan Pedretti in 40th (19:12.3).
 
The Scarlet Knights return to action on Friday, Sept. 17 for the Iona Meet of Champions in Bronx, N.Y.