EQUALITY INVITATIONAL
COLCHESTER, Vt. – Vermont returned to racing this afternoon for the first time since the Vermont Invite for the men and the Maribel Souther Invitational for the women. In the men's race, James Cilwik made it two victories in two races as the sophomore led the Catamounts to a clean sweep over the Purple Knights. On the women's side, Clare Kelly led the Catamounts to victory as she paced the women to put seven in the top 10.

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Results: Women's 8k | Men's 8k

COACH'S QUOTE
"Getting a couple victories today was great for our teams. Thanks to Molly and everyone at St. Mike's who put on a great meet over there," said Head Coach Matt Belfield. "The men kept the grouping pretty tight up front and our rookies really stood out today and should be gaining a lot of confidence running up with our vets. Depth will be key for us moving forward." On the women's race, Belfield said, "The women up front ran very relaxed amid a couple of really strong racers from SMC, and our grouping from numbers 3 through 7 was exciting to see as we secured the victory. Running their first 8K-plus XC race was a big deal from some of the women, but I saw really good poise and exaction."

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Cilwik won the race with a time of 25:45.3 and was followed shortly after by William Locke, who finished in 25:49.2.
• Elliot Hawley finished third as he ran the course in 25:54. Bennett Harrison-Michaels (25:59.3) and Nathan Stine (26:00.4) rounded out the scoring for the Catamounts.
• The men finished with nine in the top 10.
• Kelly won the race with a time of 31:12.1 and was followed up by Caroline Deiss in fourth with a time of 31:38.1.
• Lily Porth (33:11.5), Hope Tyska (33:11.8), and Ava Johnson (33:11.9) all came across the line together to round out the scoring for the women's team.

NOTES

• With the win, Vermont Mutual Insurance Group will donate $100 to King Street Center as part of the Cats Win, Community Wins initiative. Since its inauguration in 2017, Vermont Mutual Insurance Group has donated over $80,000 to local non-profits through the Cats Win, Community Wins initiative.  

UP NEXT

Both teams head to Lehigh next Saturday (Sept. 30) for the Paul Short Run where they will compete against schools from across the country.