Owls XC Set to Host 28th James Earley Invitational Meet

Westfield State men's and women's cross country will host their yearly James Earley Invitational meet on Oct 12, 2024. This is going to be the 28th year that the Owls will be hosting this meet in Westfield, Mass. at Stanley Park. The women's race will be a 5-kilometer race while the men will race an 8-kilometer race.  The meet features approximately 21 teams and 450 student-athletes competing across two races.

Starting Times

10:30 AM: Women's Race

11:30 AM: Men's Race

Women's Race

The Owls have been led by the trio of junior Shea Hamel (Longmeadow, Massachusetts), junior Tealei Chandonnet (Dracut, Massachusetts), and junior Julianne Kelly (Natick, Massachusetts). 

Hamel has had a great start so far as she won the season opener at the Keene State Alumni Invitational as she won the 2 mile in a time of 12:00.8 and took home the MASCAC runner of the week. Then at UMass Dartmouth she placed 104th place out of 344 runners with a time of 19:50. 

Chandonnet and Kelly have made a big jump from last year to this year with some solid performances in their first few races of the season so far. Chandonnet topped the Owls runners at the Keene Invitational meet last weekend, breaking 19 minutes for the 5-kilometer distance.  Both will look to continue to improve the rest of the season, buoying the Owls' team results.

Last year the Owls finished 7th at this meet out of 25 teams with 187 points while Smith College won the meet overall with 57 points. Last season, they raced the 6 km race because the NCAA regional was also held at Stanley Park and the Earley served as  a pre-regional meet.  This year the women's course will be back in the 5 km race. 

Some teams to watch out for on the women's side are Williams College which is ranked third in the NCAA's Mideast region, Connecticut College (5^th in the Mideast) and Trinity College.

 Men's Race

The Owls' have been led by a trio of upper classmen, senior John Nekitopoulos (West Springfield, Massachusetts), senior Scott Porter (Boylston, Massachusetts), and junior Gordon Johnson (Hanson, Massachusetts) along with sophomore Nathan Sylven.

Nekitopoulos is off to a great start to the season so far as he took seventh in the season-opener at the Keene State Alumni Invitational as he went under 16 minutes in the 5-Kilometer race by running 15:57. He then ran a 26:26 in the 8-Kilometer race at Keene State this past weekend as he placed 81st out of 344 runners. He also took home a MASCAC runner of the week award after his performance at Trinity College where he finished 7th place overall.

Gordon and Scott have greatly impacted the Owls' start with some great performances in their first three meets of the season so far. Last year at this meet Scott finished with a time of 28:41 finishing 104th place and Gordon finished with a time of 28:36, 99th place as they both will look to move up spot and time in the upcoming James Earley race.

Sylven looks to round into form after missing several races early in the season.  The defending conference champion, Sylven was first across the line for the Owls at the Keene Invitational this past weekend in 27:33.

The Owls' finished 11th last year out of 24 teams with Wesleyan winning the meet overall with 56 points. 

Some teams to watch out for on the men's side are Williams College (ranked fourth in the NCAA Mideast region), Roger Williams, and Connecticut College. 

Spector Information

Spectators should plan to arrive at the meet early and park at the Commuter Lot.

The women's race starts on the field at Stanley Park near gate #1, ( the west gate on Western Ave)., crosses the soccer fields then turns right to run past the old meeting house, and right again towards the parking area before turning left and crossing into the wildlife sanctuary trails.   When the runners emerge from the woods trails they reverse course on the fields, and finish heading west between the stonewall and the row of mighty oaks near Western Ave.

The men's race also starts on the field at Stanley Park near gate #1, the west gate on Western Ave.,  before dipping into the woods trails for a couple minutes and then comes right back up hill to do another field loop. Then the runners go back into the trails for a longer, flatter loop before coming back out of the woods until roughly 1000 meters to go, and finish on the same home stretch as the women's course  Live results will be available online at www.IC4Atrack.com .

Forecast

Saturday's forecast is looking like a great day for the races and fans, with temperatures roughly 60 degrees and sunny.

-- written by Brandon Hager, sports information intern