PRINCETON, N.J. – The Monmouth men's and women's cross country teams wrapped up their regular-season schedules at the Joe Handelman '52 Princeton Fall Classic on Friday, with the women earning a fourth-place team finish and the men placing 18th at Princeton's Meadows Campus Cross Country Course.

Monmouth's women totaled 139 points in the 6K, tying Robert Morris for third before finishing fourth on the tiebreaker. The Hawks finished ahead of a pair of nationally ranked programs in No. 29 Boston College and No. 25 Princeton. Elon won the women's team title with 78 points, while No. 24 Penn State finished second with 123.

"Today was another great opportunity to compete against strong competition as we prepare for the championship portion of our season," said Head Coach Damon Godfrey. "Our women finished fourth and once again competed at a very high level, led by outstanding performances from Emily Simko and Krissy Sarnicola."

Simko paced the Hawks with a seventh-place individual finish, completing the 6000m course in 21:04.7. The junior gained two positions over the closing portion of the race to secure her first top-10 finish of the season.

Sarnicola crossed the line six seconds behind Simko, finishing eighth overall in 21:10.5. The duo gave Monmouth two runners among the top eight in the field and were separated by just 5.8 seconds.

Sophomore Payton Campbell gave the Hawks a third top-20 finisher, placing 17th in 21:29.7. Campbell, Simko and Sarnicola all finished within 25 seconds of one another at the front of Monmouth's lineup.

Elaina Rainwater was Monmouth's fourth scorer, taking 40th with a time of 22:05.6. Olivia Schweitzer completed the scoring five in 71st overall, crossing in 22:32.5 while gaining nine positions over the final segment of the race. Monmouth's top five averaged 21:40.6.

Leah Rutledge finished sixth for the Hawks in 22:43.5, while Aleah Lazar followed in 23:12.7. Lana Hurwitz (23:19.7), Avery Errico (23:20.3), Casey Collins (24:12.8), Erin Vincent (24:19.6), Anna Hoffman (24:32.2), Olivia Cibirka (24:47.5), Ella Burnham (25:06.9) and Elena Cicchini (25:37.0) rounded out the Monmouth women's contingent.

On the men's side, freshman Michael McGinnity led the Hawks for the second straight meet, placing 75th overall in the 8K with a time of 25:39.2. McGinnity moved up three spots over the closing portion of the race and accounted for 70 team points.

Senior Tomas Barry was Monmouth's second finisher, clocking 26:02.8, while freshman Jack Ockenden followed closely behind in 26:06.4. Sophomore Noah Klugman crossed fourth for the Hawks in 26:16.4, and freshman Michael Black completed the scoring five in 26:36.6.

Monmouth's five scorers averaged 26:08.3 and were separated by just 57.4 seconds as the Hawks totaled 458 points. Syracuse won the men's team title with 39 points, followed by William & Mary with 82 and Boston College with 128.

Godfrey continued, "Our men continue to show promise, with freshmen finishing as our first and third runners. We had a few guys who weren't at their best today, which impacted our team finish, but we know we're capable of more.

Conor Clifford (26:50.4), James Giordano (27:05.4), Joshua Tejada (27:32.1), Drew Bowker (27:43.0), Aaron Guensch (28:34.6), Conor Jacob (28:58.7), Conor Brand (29:20.6) and Enzo Corona (29:51.0) also competed for Monmouth.

The Princeton Fall Classic marked Monmouth's final competition before the CAA Cross Country Championships on Oct. 30 at Bethpage State Park in Farmingdale, N.Y.

"We're looking forward to the CAA Championships in two weeks and the opportunity to continue improving."