Syracuse men and women sweep Coast-to-Coast Battle in Beantown in historic day

At the Coast-to-Coast Battle in Beantown hosted by Boston College, both the Syracuse No. 13 men and No. 27 women took first place, which marked the first sweep at the event since its inception in 2013.

For the men, the win marked their third-straight top finish at the contest, while for the women, the triumph signified not only their first at the event, but their first top finish at any major meet since the NCAA Northeast Regionals in 2011, back when Syracuse was still a member of the Big East.

The men ended the day with 64 points, 27 ahead of second place Army West Point. Redshirt junior Joe Dragon (24:23.5) led the team in fourth with senior Aidan Tooker (24:25.4) finishing just behind him in fifth. For Tooker, it was his third straight top-five finish at the race. Redshirt senior Kevin James (4:57.0) rounded out the top performers for the Orange in 11th. Elsewhere, sophomore Noah Beveridge (4:59.7) followed up his strong performance at the Harry Lang Invitational last week, taking 21st.

The women finished with 35 points, 48 ahead of host Boston College. The women also notably topped No. 25 Dartmouth on the day, which finished sixth. The meet also marked the debuts of two Syracuse transfers who both performed well. Junior Amanda Vestri (5:29.3) led the way for the Orange in second while graduate student Jordan Jacob (17:27.1) finished seventh. Sophomore Laura Dickinson (17:05.4) ended third while redshirt junior Rachel Bonner (5:38.0) took ninth.

Head coach Brien Bell sees both sides of the team as “the deepest we have ever had at Syracuse” and is using these early season meets as a way of sorting out who and who will not be part of the normal eight- to ten-person lineup during championship season. Despite the positive results, Bell has stressed that he does not want the team to get too bogged down in premature results.

“Our first major stop is ACC Championships,” said Bell. “It is just a race. It is an indicator in the sense that people can get a little experience and kind of see where they are.”

The Orange will get a month-long break to rest and prepare before returning to action at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational on Oct. 18.