Kaftanski, Garber and Baker Take MAAC Weekly Honors
MAAC Sports
Edison, NJ ? Iona’s Evan Garber and Manhattan's Matt Kaftanski were named the MAAC Men’s Cross Country Runners of the Week, while Iona’s Ashling Baker was selected as the Women’s Runner of the Week.
Kaftanski, a junior from Everett , WA, led the Manhattan College men's cross country team to a fifth place finish in the New York Metropolitan Cross Country Championships held Friday afternoon at Van Cortlandt Park. Kaftanski finished 15th overall in the meet, running the course in 26:42.
Garber, a senior from Spokane, WA, made his 2008 debut and finished 14th overall at the 2008 New York Met Championships this weekend in the 139-athlete race field. Garber finished the 8k race in 26:39.2. Only four runners were entered in the race for the Gaels so they were not calculated in the team scoring.
Baker, a senior from Sandymount, Ireland, finished second overall out of 125 runners at the 2008 New York Metropolitan Championships this weekend. Her time of 18:14 in the 5k race was four seconds shy of the race winner, Rutgers' Cheyenne Ogletree. It was also 54 seconds faster than her time in her fourth place finish at the event last year. As a team, the Gaels were third ? behind Columbia and Rutgers ? out of the 14 teams competing at the meet.
The 2008 MAAC Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Championships will be held on November 1st at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.