LINCROFT, NJ – For the third-straight season, both the Monmouth University women and men's cross country teams earned victories at the season-opening MU XC Kick-Off, held Saturday morning at Thompson Park. Junior Jenna Cupp (Newark Valley, NY/Newark Valley) crossed the finish line first overall and rookie Rachel Lehnert (Fair Haven, NJ/Rumson Fair-Haven) recorded a freshman record to pace the women's squad, while the men's team saw a pack finish fifth through tenth, led by Graham Huggins-Filozof (Freewood Acres, NJ/Freehold Township).
Cupp led the way for the Monmouth women, which saw six runners finish in the top-10. The third-year Hawk finished the 4K (2.5 miles) course in 14:37.87, good for third all-time at Thompson Park, while Lehnert, making her collegiate debut, etched her name in the Monmouth record books by finishing 4.04 seconds later. Junior Molly McKeon (Royersford, PA/Pope John Paul II) earned fourth overall, finishing in 15:07.16, 1.20 seconds before Sydney Engelberger (Great Barrington, MA/Monument Mountain RHS) crossed the finish line. Rachael Baker (Hanson, MA/Whitman Hanson Regional) registered a time of 15:10.84, good for seventh before Allie Wilson (Wallingford, PA/Strath Haven) earned ninth with a time of 15:15.34. Sophomore Danielle Leavitt (Forked River, NJ/Lacey Township) rounded-out the Hawks' top-seven with a 12th place result, posting a time of 15:25.10.
The Hawks won the event handily, scoring 19 points, followed by Lafayette with 77 tallies. Seton Hall placed third with 96 points, two points in front of LIU Brooklyn and three points ahead of Wagner. St. Francis (NY) posted a sixth place result with 149 point.
“The women ran under control with their teammates for the first half and then went after it more in the second half of the race,” said head coach Joe Compagni. “After a big week of training they did a nice job.”
On the men's side, the Hawks top-six finishers crossed the finish line within 2.50 seconds of each other. Huggins-Filozof, leading the pack of the 6K (3.73 miles) race, registered a time of 19:37.79, good for fifth while junior Kevin Summonte (Freehold, NJ/Freehold Township) posted a mark of 19:38.08 for sixth. Making his collegiate debut, freshman Kyle Mueller (Brick, NJ/Marine Academy of Technology and Environmental Science) finished .30 second behind Summonte in seventh and Benjamin Dillon (Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill East) landed in eighth with 19:38.67. Senior Kevin French (Fishkill, NY/John Jay) and junior Gerard Sclafani (Red Bank, NJ/Butler [DeSales]) capped-off the top-10 for MU with times of 19:38.98 and 19:39.29, respectively. Ryan Mitchell (Lansdale, PA/La Salle College H.S.) rounded out the top-seven with a time of 19:53.32.
The Blue and White, which totaled 30 points and won the event by 29 tallies, was trailed by Lafayette which came in second. Seton Hall earned third with 70 points, 40 points in front of St. Francis (NY), which edged Wagner by 10 tallies.
“It was great to see the men, both our top group and those behind them, work together as a group through the entire course,” added Compagni. “They got a good quality effort in, which was what we wanted to do today.”
Monmouth returns to the trails next weekend with the 21st annual Monmouth Invitational hosted at Holmdel Park. Race times are 10:00 (men's 5 mile race) and 10:45 AM (women's 5K race).
