Iona’s El-Sandali and Morenaite Sweep Cross Country Weekly Awards
Men’s Runner of the Week
Ehab El-Sandali, Iona
Sr., Toronto, Ontario/West View
Ehab El-Sandali was Iona's top performer this week, crossing the finish line in 23:33.0 for a sixth-place finish.
The Iona College men's cross country team placed third at the Pre-Nationals Blue Race. There were 11 nationally ranked teams competing in the various races in Terre Haute; BYU (2nd), Colorado (3rd), Washington (4th), Ole Miss (8th), Oklahoma State (14th), Indiana (15th), Iona (21st), Eastern Kentucky (25th), Arkansas (27th), Virginia Tech (29th) and Florida State (30th)
BYU was the first-place team with 81 points. The Cougars exceeded past Colorado, who had 83 points. Iona rocketed into third place with 140 points. Washington and Ole Miss rounded out the top-five with 160 and 174 points, respectively.
Iona had two runners place inside the top-10 with John Millar placing 10th
Women’s Runner of the Week
Egle Morenaite, Iona
Jr., Klaipeda, Lithuania/Priekules Ievos Simonaitytes Gymnasium
Egle Morenaite paced the Gaels this week, finishing second individually and crossing the finish line in 20:46.9. It was her first race of the 2019 cross country season, and her first effort since the 2019 NCAA D1 East Region Preliminary Outdoor Track & Field Championships. The Gaels had two additional runners finish inside the top-25. Gemma Nuttall finished 17th in 21:27.1, and Sophie Murphy clocked in at 21:46.1
As a team, Iona College women's cross country team placed second among 26 teams competing at the Pre-National Invitational women's 6,000-meter CC White Race hosted by Indiana State at the LaVern Gibson Championship course.
There were 10 nationally ranked teams competing in the various races in Terre Haute; BYU (2nd), Colorado (3rd), Michigan (7th), Washington (8th), Boise State (11th), Florida State (11th), Ole Miss (17th), Illinois (20th), Boston College (26th) and Oklahoma State (30th).
About the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference:
With 11 institutions strongly bound by the sound principles of quality and integrity in academics and excellence in athletics, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) is in its 39
th year of competition during the 2019-20 academic year. Current conference members include: Canisius College, Fairfield University, Iona College, Manhattan College, Marist College, Monmouth University, Niagara University, Quinnipiac University, Rider University, Saint Peter’s University, and Siena College.