Oct. 4, 2003

FAIRFIELD, CT (October 5, 2003) - The Sacred Heart men and women's cross-country teams turned in strong performances at the Fairfield University Invitational Saturday afternoon. The men took home a first place finish with 27 team points topping host Fairfield, with 50, and Siena, who finished with 53. The women just missed finishing in the top-spot with 29 points, coming in behind Siena, who finished with 28. Fairfield finished third with 66 points. Despite the second place finish, the Pioneers took the top two spots in the race.

For the men, senior Matthew Uzenski (Oceanside, NY) defend his 2002 individual race title, taking the top spot in 27:32.1. Uzenski won last year's race becoming the first male athlete to win an individual cross-country title at Sacred Heart. Overall, the Pioneers took six of the top-10 spots with their seventh runner finishing 13th.

Sophomore Robert Howard (Levittown, NY) had his best finish of the year, taking fourth in a time of 27:59.9. Senior Andrew Renna (Danbury, CT) finished sixth (28:15.9), sophomore Robert Gill (Braintree, MA) finished seventh (28:24.9), senior Joseph Zalak (Middle Village, NY) took ninth (28:31.3), sophomore Tyler Arnett (Clinton Corners, NY) was 10th (28:50.6) and freshman Christopher Dowsey (Medford, NY) rounded-out the Pioneer top-seven in 13th (29:00.6).

For the women, senior Katie Wrinkle (Medford, NY) also won this race for the second-straight year, running away to a 23 second win over teammate Suzanne Neglia (Andover, NJ). Wrinkle turned in a time of 19:04.3, her fastest of the season in recording her fourth-straight top-15 finish of the season and her second consecutive top-five finish. Neglia also ran her best race of the year, coming in second in a time of 19:27.2.

Senior Christina Mendoza (Union City, NJ) and freshman Kathleen Duffy (Monroe, CT) were seventh and eighth respectively. Mendoza turned in a time of 19:57.7 while Duffy finished at 20:06.1. Freshman Anne Duffy (Monroe, CT) was 11th (20:20.5), sophomore Erin Kulasewski (West Warwick, RI) was 13th (20:36.0) and junior Terressa Howard (Meridan, CT) rounded out the top-seven with a 17th-place finish (20:47.5).

Both teams return to action next Friday, October 10th when they take part in the New England Championships in Boston, MA.

Men's Results: 1. Sacred Heart 27, 2. Fairfield 50, 3. Siena 53

Women's Results: 1. Seina 28, 2. Sacred Heart 29, 3. Fairfield 66

For Full Fairfield Invitational Results click here

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