PRINCETON, NJ - Racing in a stacked field that included several nationally-ranked programs, the Monmouth women's and men's cross country teams both finished in 11th overall at the Princeton Inter-Regional Meet, Saturday morning. The Hawks women were paced by junior Jenna Cupp (Newark Valley, NY/Newark Valley), who set a new course record for the Blue and White at the 6.1k Princeton course, crossing the finish line with a time of 22:14.7. Cupp broke the 2012 record set by Amanda Eller as the third-year Hawk finished 52nd overall, seven spots ahead of Molly McKeon (Royersford, PA./Pope John Paul II) who clocked in at 22:23.0, good for third all-time in school history.
"Jenna and Molly came through three miles in 17:30 and 17:38 and finished strong in some wet and windy conditions," said head coach Joe Compagni. "They did a nice job leading the way for us."
Senior Sydney Engelberger (Great Barrington, Mass./Monument Mountain RHS) took third for Monmouth and 70th overall with 22:54.1, while junior Maggie Hanlon (Toms River, NJ/Toms River North) recorded a time of 23:03.9. Sophomore Danielle Leavitt (Forked River, NJ/Lacey Township) was the fifth Hawk in, registering 23:04.6, followed by junior Rachael Baker (Hanson, MA/Whitman Hanson Regional) who took 76th overall in 23:43.6. Allie Wilson (Wallingford, PA/Strath Haven) rounded-out the Hawks' top-seven, coming at 23:53.8.
The Monmouth women had a top-five average time of 22:44.1, their best in school history in nine years of racing on the Princeton course. The top four teams in the meet, including 1st place Princeton, entered the weekend ranked among the top-30 in the nation.
"The results were encouraging for the women," added Compagni. "We are showing that we are capable of being a very good team going forward."
The Monmouth men were led by senior Graham Huggins-Filozof (Freewood Acres, NJ/Freehold Township), who finished 54th in 25:07.1 on the men's 8K course. Sophomore Ben Dillon (Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill East) was the second Hawk to cross the finish line, recording a time of 25:20.4.
A pair of freshmen finished third and fourth with Kyle Mueller (Brick, NJ/MATES) running 25:43.5 in 66th and Ryan Mitchell (Lansdale, PA/La Salle College H.S.) recording 25:45.7. The rookies' times rank fifth and sixth all-time for Monmouth freshmen at Princeton. Senior Kevin French (Fishkill, NY/John Jay) ran 26:01.9 to finish fifth for the Hawks and 73rd overall. Junior Gerard Sclafani (Red Bank, NJ/Butler [DeSales/US Army]) ran 26:09.0 and senior Conner Fuller (Bainbridge, NY/Bainbridge-Guilford Central) ran 26:38.7 to round out the team's top-seven.
Monmouth's men, undefeated in its first three meets of the season, had a top-five average time of 25:35.8. Indiana University, ranked 19th in the nation, took home the team title.
“We knew we were lining up with some excellent teams and knew that the day would be a big challenge for us,” said Compagni. “We didn't execute quite as well as we had hoped on the men's side but I think we learned a lot about what we need to do to be successful.”
Monmouth returns to action next weekend when it travels to Newark, DE for the University of Delaware Invitational, with races beginning at 10 a.m.
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