BRONX, NY – The Monmouth University Men's and Women's Cross Country Teams ran at the ECAC/IC4A Championships and placed 15^th and eighth, respectively, at the historic Van Cotlandt Park on Friday morning.

Once again, it was junior Declan McDonnell leading the way for the men's squad with a sixth-place finish clocking it at 24:07.4. The Rosemont, Pa. native helped lead the Hawks to a 15^th-place finish out of 34 competing teams.

Freshman Emily Simko led the women's team with a time of 21:30.4 which placed her 22^nd amongst 292 runners. Monmouth tallied 249 points – a mark that ranked eighth out of 36 competing schools.

For their impressive times, McDonnell and Simko were given All-East honors.

TOP FINISHERS
Men's Top Seven Finishers
6. Declan McDonnell (24:07.4)
80. Tennessee Tremain (25:13.7)
105. Seb Reed (25:28.1)
115. Drew Bowker (25:34.5)
134. Aidan Gilmore (25:43.0)
203. Niko Ferrante (26:13.5)
226. Thomas Schulz (26:26.6)

Women's Top Seven Finishers
22. Emily Simko (21:30.4)
42. Ashley Navarro (21:58.6)
48. Allie Pierontoni (22:02.5)
49. Marisa Kilgarriff (22:03.5)
89. Ellie Keefer (22:36.9)
171. Sydney Todd (23:40.0)
200. Jacci Martinelli (24:28.0)

QUOTES
"I was pleased with how both groups competed today at Van Cortlandt Park. We had some disappointing performances at our last meet, and I felt like we bounced back strongly today.
 
Declan McDonnell and Emily Simko ran terrific races to lead us. Their efforts earned them All-East honors.
 
Now we turn our attention to the championship portion of the season. Our next meet will be the CAA Championship on October 27. I like the direction our teams are headed.  Fly Hawks!" - Director of Track and Field/Cross Country and Head Coach Mike Nelson

UP NEXT
The Hawks will run next at the CAA Championships at Pole Green State Park in Mechanicsville, Va. on Friday, October 27.