Men's & Women's Cross Country Regional Championships This Weekend
MAAC Sports
Edison, NJ ? The MAAC Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams will compete in the NCAA Regional Championships on Saturday, November 15th with a chance to qualify for the NCAA National Championships in Terre Haute, Indiana.
Canisius, Fairfield, Iona, Manhattan, Marist, Niagara, and Siena will run in the Northeast Regional at Van Cortlandt Park in Riverdale, New York, while Loyola, Rider, and Saint Peter’s head to Princeton University for the Mid-Atlantic Regional. The top two teams in each region receive automatic bids to the NCAA Championship.
The Iona men’s team, coming off its 18th straight MAAC Championship, is going for its fourth straight Regional Championship and sixth in the last seven years. The Gaels have been ranked first in the Northeast Region all season and are currently 8th in the nation. The stiffest competition figures to come from Providence College, who Iona defeated 37-46 at the 2007 Regionals. Leading the way for the Gaels will be two-time MAAC Champion Mohamed Khadraoui and MAAC runner-up Harbert Okuti, who finished fourth at last year’s Regional Championship.
On the women’s side, Iona will be looking to earn its first automatic bid to the National Championships since 2006. 2008 MAAC Champion Annelore Desaedeleer and runner-up Ashling Baker will lead the way for the Gaels.
At the Northeast Regional at Van Cortlandt Park, the women’s 6k race will start at 11:00 a.m. and the men’s 10k race will go off at 11:45 a.m. The Mid-Atlantic Regional will begin with the women’s 6k at 11 a.m., followed by the men’s 10k at 12:00 p.m.