MILTON, N.Y. – Purchase College freshmen Robert Royston and Sophie Morrison led the Panther cross country teams in the SUNY New Paltz Invitational at the Hudson Valley Sports Dome on Friday. 
 
The men's team placed 4th out of 11 teams while the women finished 6th out of eight teams.

Royston (Nyack, NY) paved the way for PC in the men's 8K with an overall time of 30:03.2. The rookie Panther placed fifth in a field of 77 runners. Freshman teammate Philip Dragovich (New York, NY) was next in line (31:49), followed by George Reid (35:33.9) (FR/Hurley, NY), Samual Teich (36:08.3) (JR/South Salem, NY) and Lucas Colon (40:15.2) (SO/Bronx, NY), respectively.  

With around 70 runners toeing the line for the women's 6K event, Morrison paced the Panther squad with a 32:13.6 finish. The PC newcomer placed 20th overall, followed by Stella Hollier (35:23.7), Anna Duffy (37:40.1) (SR/Syracuse, NY), Siona Lee (41:44.4) and Brianna Palermo (43:04.6) (SR/Hyde Park, NY), respectively.  

Up next, the Panthers head to Bard College for the annual Fred Pavlich Invitational on Sept. 24.