CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Yale men's cross country team produced yet another strong performance as the Bulldogs finished in fifth place in the highly competitive Panorama Farms Invitational Friday. Their average time of 24.51.02 over the hilly 8-kilometer course represents a huge step in the right direction as they build towards the Pre-Nationals Invitational and the Ivy League Heptagonal Championship.
Sophomore Robert Miranda and junior Nick Dahl worked together throughout the race to hold onto the front pack of runners. Both ran career PRs over the distance. Miranda ran a stunning time of 24.26.5 to finish in 15th place, with Dahl mere strides behind in 17th in a time of 24.28.4. For Dahl, this represents an almost 50-second improvement on his time from two years ago, when the Bulldogs last raced at Panorama Farms.
As is common in such high-quality races, the field was tightly bunched towards the front. Cade Brown continued his impressive form to be the third Bulldog across the line, also posting an 8-kilometer PR by sprinting under the 25-minute mark to place 32nd in a time of 24.56.9.
Tracking Brown – and solidifying their statuses as key members of the varsity team – was a group of senior Allen Siegler, junior Will Laird and first year Stephen Moody, who supported each other to 43rd, 48th and 52nd in times of 25.07.8, 25.15.5, and 25.20.9 respectively.
Though they also finished fifth as a team in 2017, the Bulldogs' improvement is clear. On a similar course, the Bulldogs' average time fell from 25.24 to 24.51 today. These are the sort of promising jumps that should give them belief as they build towards the Ivy League Heptagonal Championship Nov. 1.
As Miranda put it:
"I'm proud of how we all raced today. We really gave ourselves the chance to compete. Nick and I worked well together upfront, and we had a lot of our guys packed up behind us – especially some of the first-years competing in their first 8-kilometer race, which showed a lot of heart. If we can keep building on our effort today I think we could have a really good team come Heps."
