LINCROFT, N.J. - For the seventh straight season, the Monmouth University men's and women's cross country squads kicked-off their season at Thompson Park, Saturday morning. The women were paced by Christina Nelson's (Little Silver, N.J./Red Bank Regional) first place finish while the men were lead by junior Dan Collura (Jackson, N.J./Jackson Memorial).
Nelson's win was the first for Monmouth since Katina Alexander won the inaugural MUXC Kick-Off in 2004. Nelson's mark of 14:18.8 is a new record on the 4K (2.5 mile) course, which has been used the last two years.
The Monmouth women's team finished second behind the University of Albany, who won the race for a fourth consecutive year. Two other Hawks finished in the top ten, with junior Jennifer Nelson in sixth (15:01.9), and classmate Juliet Smith (Freedom, Pa./Freedom Area) (15:14.8) finishing in eighth place.
Ten Hawks finished in the top twenty five. Sophomore Kelsey Maher (Jackson, N.J./Jackson Memorial) was 12th, while senior Christine Altland (Hazlet, N.J./Raritan) came in 14th, followed by classmate Courtney Spratford (Califon, N.J./Voorhees) in 15th. Amanda Eller (Delmont, N.J./Millville) and Emily MacEwen (South Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury) rounded out the top eight for MU, finishing 17th and 21st, respectively.
"It was an encouraging start for our women," said head coach Joe Compagni. "They are absolutely ahead of where they were at this point last year,"
On the men's side, a 6K race (3.7 miles), Monmouth, who ran without four of its seven returning harriers from a season ago, finished fourth in the seven team field. Albany earned first place, followed by NYU and conference foe Wagner.
"The men's team should be strong this year once we put everyone on the starting line together," said Compagni.
Collura was the first Hawk to cross the finish line, posting a time of 19:41.6, in 20th place. David Berger (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill East) earned a 23rd place finish with his time of 19:46.5, while Seth Robbins and Sean Hartnett (Marlton, N.J./Cherokee) finished 26th and 27th for the Blue and White. Crossing the finish line in 20:16.5, good for 32nd, was Patrick Ryan, closely followed by Jeffrey Ascough (Toms River, N.J./Toms River East) and Todd Apgar (Somers, N.Y./Somers), who finished in 33rd and 35th place.
The Hawks women's and men's harriers return to action next Saturday, September 11, when they travel to New Britain, Conn. for the CCSU Invitational. The women's race is scheduled to begin at 11:00 a.m., while the men will start at 12:00 p.m.
