Ethan Francis (Dunkirk, N.Y./Dunkirk) won the men's race on the same course where the SUNYAC championships will be contested in late October.
The winning margin by Francis, a senior, was 26.3 seconds in the men's 6,000 meters. He crossed the line in 19:47.0, while Cortland's Cabel McCandless was second in 20:13.3.
For Francis, it was also his first collegiate win – an improvement by three spots over last year's home Invitational. He was also third at the 2015 meet and finished last season by finishing 30th at the NCAA Atlantic Regional.
"Ethan ran really well today," Fredonia Head Coach Tom Wilson said. "It's a step in the right direction. He's got a really good shot to be SUNYAC individual champion in October. We have the advantage of having the course right in our backyard. I was very impressed with his poise, especially late in the race, because it was warm. Actually, both of them (including women's winner Hannah Kurbs). It's pretty hard to lead a race from start to finish."
"I was super happy," Francis said, "to be able to start my senior year off with a win at home, especially because SUNYACs is also gonna be at home for the first time in years. ... I'm proud of Hannah for winning alongside me, it was a good show of Fredonia cross country to win the men and women's individual titles at home."
Cortland won the team portion with 35 points, Oswego was second with 44, Brockport third with 68, and the Blue Devils fourth with 76.
Fredonia's scoring five, after Francis, were sophomore Ryan Dunning (Syracuse, N.Y./West Genesee) in 12th, freshman Seth Fonda (Buffalo, N.Y./Cheektowaga) in 18th, sophomore Matthew Erman (East Meadow, N.Y./East Meadow) in 23rd, and sophomore Noah Watkins (Cortland, N.Y./Cortland) in 24th. Displacement runners for the Blue Devils were junior Kyle Egan (Monroe, N.Y./Monroe-Woodbury) and freshman Tony Gettino (Camillus, N.Y./West Genesee).
The Blue Devils' next meet is in two weeks, Sept. 15, at the University of Rochester Yellowjacket Invitational, and their next home meet is Oct. 27, the SUNYAC championships. On that day, the women will run 6,000 meters and the men's 8,000 meters.
A senior, Kurbs covered 4,000 meters in 16:04.8 – 11 seconds ahead of the Oswego State's Mackenzie Ross – and had an average mile of 6:28.1. It was Kurbs's first first-place finish in a college cross country meet, one spot better than her second-place finish at last year's home meet. She also has a fourth-place finish at the Behrend Invitational last fall.
"Hannah," Head Coach Tom Wilson said, "she's got all of her class load in line, she has a lot of time to train and focus on her goal to sneak into the SUNYAC Hall of Fame. No. 1. To do that, she has to stay healthy, and she has to focus on one race at a time."
The Oswego State women won the team portion with 38 points, followed by Fredonia with 54, Brockport with 59, Cortland with 79, and Gannon with 134.
Fredonia's scoring five, after Kurbs, were freshman Natalie Hansen (Macedon, N.Y./Penfield) in ninth place, senior Stephanie Wojnowski (Rochester, N.Y./Eastridge) in 12th, senior Emily Maguire (Oakdale, N.Y./Connetquot) in 15th, and sophomore Sarah Kurbs (Lockport, N.Y./Lockport) in 20th. The sixth- and seventh-place displacement runners were freshmen Elena Davis (Rochester, N.Y./Irondequoit) and Morgan Ashton (Whitesboro, N.Y./Whitesboro), respectively.
"As a group," Wilson said, "I was very pleased with them finishing second overall. I was pretty excited on how my freshmen ran today. I was really impressed with the way Natalie ran and how our senior, Stephanie, ran, plus to have a runner win the race (Kurbs), it's always nice to get the one point."