Cross Country Heads to UMass Dartmouth Invitational Saturday

BOSTON – After two weeks rest, the Suffolk cross country teams readies for the 47th UMass Dartmouth Invitational Saturday, Sept. 21. The Rams converge on Dartmouth, Massachusetts, with the men's five-mile run set for an 11:15 a.m. start and the women's 5k wrapping things up at 12 p.m. 

LET'S TALK ABOUT #RAMNATION
RamNation has a chance to keep up with all the latest news and notes on Suffolk Athletics, its student-athletes and teams by following the Rams on  Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. 

LAST TIME OUT [ MEN ] 
Matyas Csiki-Fejer picked up right where he left off a year ago as the sophomore sprinted to a first-place at Keene State's Early Bird Invitational to set the Suffolk men's cross country teams' pace and help the Rams capture fourth Saturday afternoon. 

MORE READING: Csiki-Mejer Takes First, Men's Cross Country Places Fourth at Early Bird Invitational

LAST TIME OUT [ WOMEN ] 
Emily Manfra set the pace for the 2019 Suffolk women's cross country season as the senior cruised to individual victory at Keene State's Early Bird Invitational Saturday, Aug. 31, helping the Rams take fourth as a team. 

MORE READING: Manfra Wins, Women's Cross Country Takes Fourth at Early Bird Invitational

INVITATIONAL INFORMATION
The UMass Dartmouth Invitational, an annual event in its 47th year, is run on the Corsairs Robert Dowd Course and is the biggest early season race in New England.  

THE HEATS
Four different heats will race throughout the day with runners wearing blue-and-gold in each event. 

Competition will begin with the junior varsity men's five-mile run at 10:30 a.m. with the men's varsity five-mile run's gun firing 45 minutes later. The women are scheduled for a varsity 5k at 12 p.m. with the women's junior varsity event wrapping action up at 12:45 p.m.  

THE COURSE
Suffolk will be racing across the Corsairs campus as both the women's 5k and the men's five-mile are filtered through the woods surrounding the athletic facilities of UMass Dartmouth. 

THE FIELD
Runners from every NCAA Division are headed to Dartmouth, Massachusetts this Saturday. Nearly 40 squads will be represented in the field including the Rams' GNAC counterparts Emmanuel, Johnson & Wales and Regis with the men from Lasell and Saint Joseph's (Maine) making the trip as well.  

RAMS RECOGNITION
Suffolk's cross country programs captured all four GNAC weekly awards for the first seven-day stretch of 2019. Emily Manfra and Matyas Csiki-Fejer were each tabbed GNAC Runners of the Week for their respective genders, while Marin Stamer and Cole Bolduc took home GNAC Rookie of the Week status.  

MORE READING: Cross Country Sweeps First GNAC Weekly Awards of 2019

WHAT'S NEXT?
The Rams have one invite left on its slate before championship chasing begins, the Suffolk Invite Saturday, Oct. 19. The meet, which also serves as the second-annual Battle for Boston Common, is an afternoon event with the first race beginning at 2 p.m. at Boston's Franklin Park.