BRONX, N.Y. – The Monmouth women's and men's cross country teams finished fourth and fifth respectively at the 2013 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championships at Van Cortlandt Park on Friday morning. Running in their first championship meet in the MAAC, both squads finished in the top half of their respective divisions, with 11 teams competing. The men were led by Khari Bowen (Monroe, N.J./Monroe Township), who placed eighth in the field of 332 runners. Freshman Lennon Cooper (Holmdel, N.J./Holmdel) was the 13th runner to cross the finish line to lead the women's team.
The MU women placed fourth overall on the 6k (3.7 mile) course, notching 110 points on the day. They placed behind Iona, who tallied 30 points and claimed four of the top five finishers to win the 2013 MAAC title. Quinnipiac came in second with 59 points, and Marist edged out Monmouth by one points, as the Red Foxes had 109 points. The Hawks cleared fifth place Rider by 37 points, with Canisius, Fairfield, Niagara, Manhattan, Siena and Saint Peter's placing sixth through 11th.
Individually, Cooper led the women with a 13th place finish, running the course in 23:19. Amanda Eller (Millville, N.J./Millville) was not far behind, coming across in 16th, just eight seconds behind Cooper. Freshman Kristen Rodgers-Erickson (High Bridge, N.J./Voorhees) was the 23rd place finished in 23:46, and Lucia Montefusco (Levittown, N.Y./MacArthur) came in four sports behind her teammate in 27th. The next three Hawks finished back-to-back-to-back, with Jenna Cupp (Newark Valley, N.Y./Newark Valley), Nina Poccia (Morristown, N.J./Pope John XXIII), and Danielle Branco (Old Bridge, N.J./Old Bridge) placing in 31th-33rd respectively to round out the MU top-seven.
“For the women, Lennon (Cooper) and Amanda (Eller) were very aggressive early in the race, and we had nine women finish before the third place teams fifth runner, but it wasn't quite enough to get to our goal,” said head coach Joe Compagni.
Monmouth's men placed fifth on the day, with Iona totaling 15 points to win the men's division as well. The top six finishers overall all were Gaels, knocking off second place Canisius by 58 points. Rider came in third (109 points), with Fairfield topping MU by 14 points to take fourth. The Blue and White cleared Marist by 18 points, and also beat Quinnipiac, Siena, Manhattan, Niagara and Saint Peter's, who finished from seventh to 11th respectively.
Bowen paced the men on the 8k (5 mile) course, finishing in 25:51 and eighth overall. Alex Leight (Old Bridge, N.J./Old Bridge) ran to a 22nd place finish in 27:03, and Pat Ryan (Leonia, N.J./Leonia) was right behind him in 23rd, just five seconds behind. Senior Anthony Branco (Old Bridge, N.J./Matawan) and Domenick D'Agostino (Wallington, N.J./Wallington) finished with just four seconds separating each other in 39th and 41st, and Kevin Summonte (Freehold, N.J./Freehold Township) raced through in 27:38, good for 45th. Monmouth's top-seven was rounded out by junior Tommy Darlington (Bethlehem, Pa./Bethlehem), who finished the race in 28:05.
“Khari (Bowen) ran a great race up front, but our gap from one to five was simply too big. All the men's teams from second to sixth were very close, so we were disappointed to end up where we did,” Compagni added.
The men's and women's cross country teams will host next year's 2014 MAAC Cross Country Championships at Holmdel Park in Holmdel, N.J. The teams will both return to action on Friday, November 15th at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships in Bethlehem, Pa.
