Iona Men's Cross Country Claims 12th Place At NCAA Championship; Morenaite Represents Women's Program
LOUISVILLE, KY - After an announcement yesterday of inclement weather forcing earlier starts for the NCAA Cross Country Championships this morning, Iona College took to the course at the E.P. Tom Sawyer Park in Louisville with the rest of the Division I field. Following the conclusion of the men's and women's races, the Iona men's program claimed a 12th place finish while freshman Egle Morenaite represented the women's team with finishing of 158th place out of 255 runners.
The women's 6k race opened the day at Sawyer Park, as Morenaite was the lone representative of the Maroon & Gold in the event after earning an at-large bid into the field following a sseventh place finish in last week's Northeast Regional Meet in Buffalo. The freshman set a new personal best in the race with a 6k time of 21:08.08, putting forth an average mile of 5:40.2 to earn 158th out of the 255 participating runners.
New Mexico claimed the women's team championship on the day, finishing 15 points ahead of second place San Francisco. Ednah Kurgat of New Mexico led the effort for the championship by claiming the individual title in a time of 19:19.5, nearly eight seconds ahead of Washington's Amy-Eloise Neale. Northeast Region representatives Providence and Dartmouth earned respective team finishes of 16th and 29th.
The Gaels' men's program was up next on the course to take part in the Championship 10k race after finishing second at the Northeast Regional. With 373 points, the Maroon & Gold landed in 12th place out of the 31 teams at the meet led by a 10k personal best of 29:50.7 from Gilbert Kirui to individually claim 27th place. The senior averaged a 4:48.4 mile time to set the cross country personal record.
Helping to add to the Iona score, Johannes Motschmann ran in at 29:58.7 to also establish a personal best in 38th place. Chartt Miller crossed in next for the Gaels at 30:49.5 in 112th place to make it three straight senior finishers for Iona. Liam Dee and Andrew Tario rounded out the top-five for the Gaels with respective times of 30:58.6 and 30:59.8 to finish 131st and 135th which includes personal bests for both.
Ehab El-Sandali finished the race in 157th with a time of 31:13.0 while Jack O'Leary concluded the Iona scoring in 210th with a time of 31:48.1
Northern Arizona claimed a second straight National Championship with 74 points, ahead of 127 points from Portland in second place. Justyn Knight of Syracuse finished just ahead of Matthew Baxter from Northern Arizona with times of 29:00.1 and 29:00.8 to win the individual crown. As a team, Syracuse finished behind Iona in 13th place with a team score of 406.
| Women's 6k |
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| Iona Results |
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| Egle Morenaite |
155th Place |
21:08.8 |
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| Men's 10k |
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| Iona Results |
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| Gilbert Kirui |
27th Place |
29:50.7 |
| Johannes Motschmann |
38th Place |
29:58.7 |
| Chartt Miller |
112th Place |
30:49.5 |
| Liam Dee |
131st Place |
30:58.6 |
| Andrew Tario |
135th Place |
30:59.8 |
| Ehab El-Sandali |
157th Place |
31:13.0 |
| Jack O'Leary |
210th Place |
31:48.1 |