UD Club XCTF carried their momentum into another successful weekend despite incliment weather conditions at the NJIT Invitational, held at Branch Brook Park in Newark, NJ. Both teams put together outstanding performances, with many pr’s, and men’s team taking first overall and women’s squad once again earning second overall in the open 8k and 5k races.

On the men’s side in the 8k, senior Evan Diefenbeck continued his dominant season, placing third overall with a strong time of 25:40. Close behind, senior Brady Shaeffer secured fifth place in 25:48, followed by senior Dave Kelly, who earned tenth in 26:32. Sophomores Michael Colavito and Sebastiano Vandoni came through next finishing in 26:36 and 26:56, respectively. Freshman Max Barlow clocked 28:37, with sophomore Patch Lant just behind in 28:42, rounding out the top seven. Outside of the top seven we had stellar performances all around with honorable mentions to Josh Pawlik, Jack Pelczar, Evan Pawlik, Giovanni Palermo, and Ryan Healy all finishing under the 30 minute barrier helping the men’s team post another impressive collective performance.

On the women’s side in the 5k, junior Kate Kershaw led the charge with a standout third place finish and all time PR in 19:35. Freshman Meghan Metz continued her breakout season, placing fifth in 19:58, while freshman Taylore Dall followed close behind, earning eighth in 20:30. Junior Natalie Greger and sophomore Zoe Morawski followed behind with times of 21:12 and 21:38, respectively. Rounding out the top seven was junior Samantha Paez (21:58) and freshman Juliana Smith (22:08), both contributing to the women’s strong team effort and continued success on the season.