By Cynthia Retamozo

The men and women’s cross country teams traveled to Hamden, Conn. Friday to compete in the Quinnipiac Invitational, where the women placed third and the men placed fourth in their respective heats.

Head coach Sherman Hart said that although both teams ran fairly well, they are capable of much more.

“I wasn’t disappointed,” he said. “But I wasn’t jumping up for joy either.”

Sophomore Brittany Moriarty, a key runner on the women’s side, was taken out of the race at the last minute because she was showing early signs of stress fractures. Freshman Christi Gallagher, another key runner, was also absent in order to avoid fatigue after competing the last two weeks.

Freshman Annie Scully stepped up in their place, finishing seventh with a time of 19:17 in the 5K race. Following suit was junior Kristie Gagnon, who came in 13th (19:32) and freshman Seri Gordon in 16th (19:43).

The men’s team was led by senior Tom Brown, who was the top collegiate runner in the 8K race coming in second with a time of 26:56.2 seconds. First place went to a Quinnipiac alumnus.

Junior Brian Kennedy finished second for Northeastern, placing 12th with a time of 27:50. In 24th place was Bryan Brunelli with a time of 28:53.6.

On Oct. 6, the Huskies will compete in the New England Championships at Franklin Park.

Scully said she looks forward to overall team improvement and running with the lead pack.

“There were a lot of good teams at Quinnipiac,” she said. “We need to step up as a whole and get better and better.”