ATTLEBORO, Mass. – The Manhattanville University cross country teams made a pilgrimage to The Bay State on Saturday morning, competing in the Suffolk University Invitational to open up the 2025 season. Running against competitors from the northeast spanning NCAA Division I and III, the Valiant men finished 13^th as a team while the women took 17^th.

The women's 3K opened the day's action at Highland Park. Jennifer Oliveros (New Rochelle, N.Y./New Rochelle) led the Valiant runners, with the sophomore finishing in 15:28.28 to place 157^th. Her freshman teammate Sam Delgado (New Rochelle, N.Y./New Rochelle) crossed immediately after, taking 158^th with a 15:30.30 time. Adelina Rodriguez (Westbury, N.Y./Westbury) crossed in 15:40.30, as the sophomore claimed 162^nd overall. Alicia Bibi (Marlborough, Mass./Marlborough) made her homecoming as the Massachusetts native returned to Suffolk where she competed as an undergrad. The Valiant grad student finished in 16:30.90 in her Manhattanville cross country debut.

Rookies Kristen Mejia (Port Chester, N.Y./Port Chester) and Lilly Savnik (Mastic, N.Y./William Floyd) finished back-to-back, with the freshmen tandem placing 177^th (17.11.14) and 178^th (17:11.49), respectively. Saage Palmer (Brooklyn, N.Y./Medgar Evers College Preparatory School) rounded out Manhattanville's early race runners with a time of 18:53.41, placing 185^th.

The Valiant men then took to the course for the 5K, with eight runners crossing the finish line for Manhattanville. The effort was led by Joey DeMilio (White Plains, N.Y./White Plains) opening his junior campaign with another top effort that became commonplace for him last year as a sophomore. DeMilio finished in 18:12.56, taking 94^th place.

Zach Garrant (Poughkeepsie, NY/Spackenkill High School) posted an 18:34.56 showing to take 104^th. Daniel Baldessarre (Highland Mills, N.Y./Monroe Woodbury) was the next Valiant to cross, taking 125^th in the field with a time of 19:23.89. Darlig Delgado (Bay Shore, N.Y./Bay Shore Senior) opened his senior year with a time of 20:06.76, good for 135^th. Delgado was the first of three Valiants to finish in the next ten spots, with Danny Noia (Honolulu, Hawaii/McKinley) finishing in 142^nd (20:41.27) and Courtney Brown (Clarendon, Jamaica/Mount Vernon) nabbing 144^th (21:10.18).

Khalil Williams (Menands, N.Y./Shaker) (155^th, 24:24.69) and Shai Graham (Bronx, N.Y./Bronx Theatre High School) (157^th, 24:35.56) closed out the Valiants' performers on the day.

Up Next
With the opening race under their belts, the Valiants return to action next Saturday to run in the Purchase College Invitational.

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