Syracuse, N.Y. – Redshirt juniors Sophia Bisognano (Albany, N.Y./Colonie) and Matt Bartolotta (Syracuse, N.Y./West Genesee) each placed first to lead the Le Moyne College women's and men's cross country teams at the Le Moyne-hosted Frank Dillon Memorial Invitational on Saturday morning. The women's team finished in third place, while the men's placed second.

"We had a beautiful day to kick off our season," said head coach Robin Wheeless. "Having the top finisher in both races is always helpful. Our freshmen showed that they are going to be an immediate impact for our team. I'm sure they will help us on our DI journey this year."

SUNY-ESF captured the women's team competition with 49 points to edge Daemen University by just three points. The Dolphins posted 67 points to finish in third place.

Bisognano cruised to a first-place finish with a time of 15:33.7 to top the field by 17 seconds. Freshman Mackenzie Ples (Lowville, N.Y./Lowville) was the second Dolphins to cross the finish line with a time of 16:13.2 to place 10th. Junior Anita Jepchirchir (Eldoret, Kenya/The Kenya High School) was two spots behind with a time of 16:27.3, while classmate Hilda Kiprono (Eldoret, Kenya/Kapsabet Girls High School) placed 22nd in 18:33.8. Sophomore Alexandra Jacob (North Syracuse, N.Y./Cicero-North Syracuse) rounded out the scorers for the Dolphins with a 25th-place finish in 18:49.2.

Daemen University won the men's team competition with 30 points after having five of the top nine scorers. The Dolphins recorded three of the top seven finishes to place second with 41 points. SUNY-ESF finished third with 87 points.

Bartolotta won the men's race for the second time in his three seasons of competition (and placed second last year) with a time of 20:06.5 over the six-kilometer course to win by 3.5 seconds. Freshman Tyler Cooper (Sloatsburg, N.Y./Suffern) turned in a time of 20:37.9 to place fifth in his collegiate debut. Redshirt junior Jeremy Plumley (Camden, N.Y./Camden) was two spots back with a time of 21:02.3. Junior Jack Gibson (Ilion, N.Y./Central Valley Academy) placed 12th in 21:35.8, while freshman Mike Purvis (Liverpool, N.Y./Liverpool) rounded out the team's scorers with a time of 21:51.0 to place 16th.

The Dolphins return to action on Saturday, September 16 at the Yellowjacket Invitational hosted by the University of Rochester, at Genesee Valley Park in Rochester. The women start at 10:00 a.m. and the men follow at 11:00 a.m.