CLINTON, Pennsylvania --The Lake Erie cross country team started their season at the Robert Morris University Colonials Invitational on Friday morning, with the women racing in a 6k, while the men competed in a 8k. Fighting against many strong schools like Carnegie Mellon, Walsh, and Davis & Elkins, the men finished in 10th as a team, while the women finished 11th on their side.

Starting with the women, Ayleen Villacres finished first for her team, coming in 86th place with a time of 25:54.5 - good for a sub-seven minute average mile. Following close behind her was Mckenna Blore (91st) with a time of exactly 27:00.0, and then Kaleigh Williams (95th) at a time of 27:40.4. Melayna Prindle (104th) and Amelia Shirk (105th) rounded out the effort with finishes of 34:06.9 and 34:53.9 respectively. 

As for the men, senior Bryce Michaelis led the charge, clocking a time 27:59.7 in the 8k, good for 87th place. Andrew Polcik would be next to finish for Lake Erie, recording 100th place at 28:43.5, followed by Evan Laukonis (113th), John Molnar (116th), and Aaron Smelser (118th). 

The highlight of the day was redshirt junior Ayleen Villacres breaking her previous PR in the 6k by nearly a full minute! Additionally, congratulations to true freshmen John Molnar and Aaron Smelser on competing in their first ever collegiate event!

Gaining great experience for the following track and field season beginning in the first week of December, the Storm look to constantly improve each week. Their next opportunity to get better comes in the form of the Youngstown State University Invitational on Saturday, September 27th.