WATERFORD, Conn. – The Connecticut College men's and women's cross country teams hosted the D3 Challenge on Saturday morning at Stenger Farm Park.

Several teams were forced to pull out of the event this week in order to compete in a rescheduled conference championship. Despite the smaller field, the Camels put forth a strong effort on a day that saw the course record fall on both the men's and women's sides. Kiera Tallas (Fountain Valley, Calif.) won the women's race with a time of 19:10—shaving more than a minute off the previous record—while Lucas Vasquez (Ewing, N.Y.) paced the men with a time of 16:06.

Conn College will next compete at the NCAA Mideast Regional on Saturday, November 11 at Stanley Park in Westfield, Mass.  

Women's Race

The Camels dominated what ended up being a head-to-head matchup against the University of Saint Joseph. All 20 Conn runners finished ahead of the top USJ finisher, with several eclipsing the 20-minute threshold.

Tallas set the tone at the front of the pack and gave herself an early cushion en route to the finish. April Schilling (Amherst, Mass.) was runner-up at 19:21, and Mary Lonergan (Andover, Mass.) crossed the finish third in 19:55.

Rounding out the scoring for the Camels were Caitlin Horgan (Needham, Mass.) and Katherine Keating (Dorchester, Mass.), who clocked in with times of 20:06 and 20:27, respectively. As a group, Conn's top-five runners all posted faster times than the previous course record (20:37), which was recorded by Keating last year. The next wave of finishers—which included Phoebe Wood (Hood River, Ore.), Elizabeth Lahive (Wellesly, Mass.) and Annika Hegde (New York, N.Y.)—also tied that mark.

Conn's Top 7
Kiera Tallas (1st, 19:10)
April Schilling (2nd, 19:21)
Mary Lonergan (3rd, 19:55)
Caitlin Horgan (4th, 20:06)
Katherine Keating (5th, 20:27)
Phoebe Wood (6th, 20:37)
Elizabeth Lahive (7th, 20:37)

Men's Race

The field for the men's race included 11 Camels and four unattached runners. Chris Abbey from Central Connecticut State University took medalist honors with a time of 15:49.

Vasquez's time of 16:06 was good enough for fourth place overall, and was the fastest ever by a Conn runner at the course. Anthony Belford (Bay Shore, N.Y.), Zach Stoddard (Pomfret Center, Conn.) and Sam Walker (Newburyport, Mass.) also broke the previous mark—which was set last year by Blake Rogers (16:21)—while Deem Quinn (Cranston, R.I.) rounded out the scoring.

Conn's Top 7
Lucas Vasquez (4th, 16:06)
Anthony Belford (5th, 16:10)
Zach Stoddard (6th, 16:15)
Sam Walker (7th, 16:20)
Deem Quinn (8th,  16:23)
Jonathan Fossel (9th, 16:35)
Aaron Longbrake (11th, 17:03)