The Niagara men's and women's cross country teams are back in action to compete in the annual Canisius Alumni Classic hosted by Canisius College on Saturday. The women's race begins at 12:00 p.m. followed by the men's race at 12:45 p.m.
 
Pre-Meet Notes (Women)

• Kayla Murphy and Caroline Hampton both finished in the top-10 in the season-opening Little 3 Championships at Delaware Park
• Murphy and Hampton finished at the top for the Purple Eagles at the National Catholic Invitational.
• Hampton ran the 5000M in 19:48 for 66^th place with Murphy finishing two places later at a time of 19:52.6.
• Megan Helf run a personal-best time of 20:36.7 and Julia Freemire ran the race in 20:42.3.
• Caroline Hampton set her personal-best time of 22:49 at the 43^rd annual Paul Short Invitational. Kayla Murphy was second on the team with a 24:01. Aly Orfano (24:17), Sarah Grubbs (24:49) and Megan Helf (24:59) all had personal-best times.

 
Rewind: 2015 Canisius Alumni Classic

• Kayla Murphy led the Purple Eagles with a time of 19:33.6. Murphy placed 43rd out of 129 runners.  
• Caroline Hampton was next for the Purple Eagles at 19:33.9. Hampton placed 44^th out of 129 runners.
• Niagara finished 7th out of 10 teams.

 
Pre-Meet Notes (Men)

• Tyler van Leeuwen led the Purple Eagles at the 43^rd Paul Short Invitational. He ran the race in 26:17 for 150^th place out of 401 runners.
• Niagara's five other runners all set new personal-best times: Matt Whitworth (27:17), Sergio Cruz (27:20), Ethan Graves (27:27), Ryan DeLola (27:35), and Aidan Russell (28:02).
• Van Leeuwen has led the Purple Eagles in all 3 races this season.
• In the season-opening Little 3 Championships, Niagara ran the 5K event in 16:43.3 to finish ahead of St. Bonaventure (17:10.2) and behind Canisius (15:51.0).

Rewind: 2015 Canisius Alumni Classic

• Jordan Bender led the Purple Eagles with a time of 26:59.6. Bender finished 43rd out of 116 runners.
• Niagara finished 6th out of 9 teams.

Stay connected with the Purple Eagles through social media. Follow Niagara Athletics on Twitter @NUPurpleEagles and for cross country updates at @NiagaraXCTF. Check in with the Purple Eagles on Facebook/PurpleEagles and on Instagram @NUPurpleEagles.