The FM Raiders Cross Country team is off an running for the first time in about 30 years.  The Raiders opened up their 2016 season as they traveled to SUNY Poly for the Wildcat Invitational.  The invite consisted of 15 women's teams and 14 men's teams.  The event consisted of mostly four year schools, but the NJCAA was well represented by Broome CC, Columbia-Greene CC, SUNY Adirondack, Herkimer CC and Mohawk Valley CC.  

The women's race was a 6K and will be the longest race on the FM schedule.  The race consisted of 75 runners and the course was not an easy one.  The course consisted of hills, wooded area and gravel like terrain.  FM's Renee Bellinger placed 43rd with a time of 29:59 and Shawntel Riveraplaced 51st with a time of 31:12.  

The men's race was an 8k and consisted of 112 runners.  FM's Ricardo Santiago placed 47th with a time of 31:35.  Finishing 57th was Jacob Mosher with a time of 32:55 and Jonathan Knack finished 84th with a time of 35:41.  Rounding out the FM men was Zubair Amir with a time of 45:28.   

FM head coach Jen Hazzard was very pleased with her teams showing.  "I am so proud of each and every one of them.  This course is not easy and will be our longest race of the season.  They have all improved leaps and bounds since day one.  I think they all gained some experience today and learned a lot.  I cant wait for the next race!" 

Photo: Renee Bellinger and Shawntel Rivera start their race.

The Raiders will travel to Herkimer CC next Satuday, October 1st to take part in a much smaller event with regional teams. 

Photo (L to R): Zubair Amir, Jacob Mosher, Jonathan Knack, & Ricardo Santiago get recognized at start of race.