PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. - The Pace University Cross Country teams traveled to Brookville, N.Y. where they competed in the LIU Post Invitational on Saturday. The women's squad finished seventh out of 14 teams, while the men placed ninth out of 13 teams.
 
Senior Sara DiGiovanna (Rio Rancho, NM/V. Sue Cleveland) had the individual highlight performance of the day, turning in a school record time of 18:58 in the 5k race. She surpassed Briana Cano's previous mark of 19:05, which was set in the 2010 NE-10 Championships.  DiGiovanna placed fourth overall out of 122 competitors.
 
"I'm absolutely thrilled," said DiGiovanna. "I've been working towards this moment since I was a freshman and to say I hold both the 5k and 6k records is an honor. This is the "make or break" moment in my collegiate career and I can't wait to see what the rest of the season has in store."
 
Freshman Mariah Jno-Charles (East Patchogue, N.Y./Bellport High School) was just four spots behind her in eighth place with a time of 19:33. Bianca Gizzo (Tenafly, NJ/Tenafly) placed 35th at 21:30, over one minute faster than in the same race last year, and Grace Telesco (Stamford, CT/Trinity Catholic) ran a time of 22:38, three minutes better than last year's time, to finish 55th.

"I thought the women executed their race plan very well," said Head Coach Alexander Bean. "I was particularly proud of Grace and Bianca, who knew they needed to be in the top half of the race to help us attain our team goal and they both ran personal bests to get it done."

In the men's 8k race, sophomore Dan Citardi (Blauvelt, NY/Tappan Zee) posted a time of 30:03 to finish 34th out of 100 runners. Ethan Besas () registered a mark of 30:30 to place 38th, while Nicholas Pisano (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Lakeland High School ) crossed the line in 43rd place at 31:01.

"Today was a very good day for our sophomore trio up front," said Bean. "These guys packed up well and ran an aggressive race. Dan went out very, very hard and showed that he is tough enough to protect his position in the race even when he goes out of his comfort zone. Ethan and Nick worked really well together not too far behind. These guys are young and motivated and they showed today that we can build a team around them. I'm excited about what we can accomplish."

The Setters return to action on Saturday, September 26 where they will run in the NE-10 Preview Meet in Colchester, Vermont.