Plattsburgh, NY – Kristian Johnson continued to show improvement by setting a new career high for the second straight meet for the SUNY Canton men's cross-country team while Brielle Smith led the women's team at the SUNYAC Championship hosted by Plattsburgh State on Saturday.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 

• Johnson set a career high with his 28:09 (5:39/mile) mark in the 8-kilometer-long course, beating his previous career-best of 28:16 in his last race at the CCOC championships (10/18/25). The junior was 36^th overall out of 105 runners.
• Matthew Pietryka was the second Roo to reach the finish line with a time of 33:43. Rounding out the top five were Justin Bormann (36:08), Jonathan Bedward (36:42), and Calvin Branchaud (42:49). Bedward's time was a personal best for the freshman.
• As a team, SUNY Canton finished 11^th out of 12 teams with the score of 327 to edge Potsdam who finished in 12^th  with 354 points. Cortland won the meet placing five runners in the top 20 with a team score of 60.
• Fredonia's Stephen Hallberg finished with time of 26:07 to lead to runners.

   

• Three runners on the women's side finished, which was led by Brielle Smith who had a time of 28:03 in the 6-kilometer-long course. The freshman finished in 74^th place out of 92 runners.
• Jenna Leshkevich was the next Roo across the line at the 30:25-mark and Megan Cowles rounded out the finishers with a time of 35:05.  
• Cortland won the women's side with a score of 49 to take both the men's and women's races. Oneonta was right behind at 73 followed by Oswego in third with 114 points.
• Melissa Innocent on Cortland was the top finisher with a time of 21:40.8, beating Hannah Reichard of Oswego by the slimmest of margins with Reichard crossing the finish line at 21:40.9.

    WHAT'S NEXT?
The Roos will compete in their final race of the year two weeks from today on November 15 at the NCAA Mideast Regionals hosted by St. Lawrence University. The men are set to start at 11 a.m. followed by the women at noon.
 
   

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