BUFFALO, NY - In the toughest test of the season, the Villa Maria College cross country programs finished strong, competing in the 2016 Canisius College Alumni Classic on Saturday afternoon at Delaware Park.

In the program's first ever season, Vikings head coach Kim Vona led her men's and women's teams to successful seasons which finished with a respectable showing in an NCAA Division I invitational to close out.

"This season went by so fast but our improvement was spectacular," Vona said following her team's final meet of the season.  "This is definitely something we can build on and I'm excited for our future."

Junior Justin Stokes (Buffalo, NY/Middle Early College) was the fastest runner for the men, finishing the 8k race in 33:21.4 while freshman Joshua Folaron (Hamburg, NY/Hamburg) was close behind, finishing in 33:42.9.  Freshman Kaleb Collins (Buffalo, NY/Middle Early College) rounded out the men's team, finishing in 37:05.7.

Sophomore Chelsea Herriven (Middleport, NY/Roy Hart) led the women's team, finishing the 5k race in 23:52.0.  Freshman Rayshawna White finished in 26:08.6 while sophomore Briana Chriss (West Seneca, NY/West Seneca East) was two seconds behind with a time of 26:10.1.  Sophomore Siera Rogers and junior Deja Walker capped the team's finish with total times of 31:59.8 and 34:28.8 respectively.