Khadraoui Repeats, Iona Men Sweep; Desaedeleer Leads Iona Women to Crown
MAAC Sports
Lake Buena Vista, FL ? The Iona College men and women were victorious at the 2008 MAAC Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Championships at Disney’s Wide World of Sports in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Iona’s Mohamed Khadraoui and Annelore Desaedeleer were the men’s and women’s individual winners, respectively.
The Iona men’s team, ranked seventh in the nation, has now won 18 consecutive MAAC Championships. The Gaels took the first five places and seven of the first nine to achieve the lowest possible score of 15. Marist College finished second with a score of 55, followed by Manhattan College with 118.
The Iona women have won four consecutive MAAC titles and five overall, however, this marks the first time that they have won the championship on the Disney course. Desaedeleer and Ashling Baker paced the Gaels by taking the top two places. Iona won the meet with 43 points. Rider University was second with 69 points and Marist was third with 78.
Khadraoui, a senior, won the 8k men’s race in 24:23.88, the eighth fastest time in MAAC Championship history on the Disney course. His victory makes him the sixth Iona runner to win multiple MAAC individual titles as he won the 2007 Championship at Van Cortlandt Park.
Desaedeleer, a first-year graduate student from Dworp, Belgium, finished the 6k course in 21:14.10. She is the third consecutive Iona woman to win the MAAC individual championship and the second to win it on the Disney course.
The 2008 MAAC Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Coach of the Year honors went to Iona first-year head coach Ricardo Santos.
Men's Results
Women's Results