HOLMDEL, NJ – Both the men's and women's cross country teams competed in the 25^th Annual Henry Mercer Invitational, with the men finishing third overall, while the women finished fifth at Holmdel Park on Saturday morning.
 
The women started the meet with ten Hawks running in the 5k course. Freshman Sammi Ragenklint (Tinton Falls, NJ / Monmouth Regional), coming off MAAC Female Runner of the Week honors, led the Blue & White with a 19^th overall finish with a time of 19:08.53. Junior Melanie Pfennig (Cutchogue, NY / Mattituck) finished 31^st overall, crossing the finish line with a time of 19:30.41.
 
For the men, 12 Hawks ran in the five-mile run, with three of them coming in the top 11 spots. Sophomore Louis DiLaurenzio (Hazlet, NJ / Raritan) led the Hawks individually, coming in sixth overall with a time of 26:35.61. Sophomore James Hoffman (Ocean Township, NJ / Ocean) finished seventh with a time of 26:42.37, and then Senior Ryan Rafferty (Jackson, NJ / Jackson Memorial) came in 11^th place, coming across the line with a time of 26:50.99.
 
NOTES AND QUOTES
"We had a lot of fun today at Holmdel Park with the 25^th running of the Henry Mercer Invitational. The meet was competitive and I thought it was a great preview of what we'll be facing at the MAAC Championships in six weeks. Overall, I thought both the women's and men's teams had respectable performances. Several athletes ran their best times ever on the challenging Holmdel course. I saw some areas where we can improve and we're looking forward to putting in some quality training over the next several weeks. We'll be looking forward to racing again at Holmdel on November 2."
-Monmouth head coach Mike Nelson             

-After the meet, Henry Mercer was honored and spoke to the crowd in attendance. Henry D. Mercer, III, Monmouth alumnus of the Class of 1987, was elected to the Monmouth University Board of Trustees in 2011 and served as Chairman of the Board from 2014 to 2017. Mercer is the 11-year Co-Coach of the Rumson-Fair Haven High School Cross Country teams, winner of the Girls NJSIAA Meet of Championships in 2011, and was named as one of the Coaches of the Year by the Asbury Park Press and the Star Ledger.                       
-Holmdel Park will be the site of the MAAC Men's and Women's Cross Country Championships, which will take place on November 2.

NUMBERS CRUNCH
-The men's course is a hilly, challenging 5 mile layout that includes the "Start Hill" and the "Sled Hill" in the first mile, and two trips around "The Bowl" mile between miles 2 and 4.
-This course was used for the first time in 2012, including the MAAC Championships in 2014 and 2017.                                                                           
-Eight of the eleven MAAC schools competed at Holmdel Park.
-Former Hawk Kyle Mueller, running unattached, won the men's race with a time of 25:40.29.
-Marist won the race on the men's side, with Princeton winning on the women's side.


NEXT UP
-The Hawks will travel to Lehigh University for the prestigious Paul Short Run on October 5, with the races starting at 9:30 am.