Iona Men’s Cross Country Earn Top-10 Finish at NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships. Gemma Nuttall Completes Season in Women’s 6K

3/15/2021 5:59:27 PM

STILLWATER, OK (Mar. 15, 2021) – The Iona College men’s cross country team and women’s cross country’s Gemma Nuttall competed at the NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Cross Country Championships. The race, hosted by Oklahoma State University took place Monday at the OSU Cross Country Course in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

The day was highlighted by a top-10 finish for the Iona Men’s Cross Country. The Gaels, ranked 12^th in the USTFCCCA National Coaches' Poll heading into the race, finished in 10^th place with a score of 311, an improvement of 37 points from their performance at the 2019 NCAA Championship.

Jack O’Leary, the Most Outstanding Runner at the 2020-21 MAAC Men’s Cross Country Championship, led the way for the Gaels with a time of 30:29.2 in the 10k race, finishing in 25th place and receiving All-American honors. Not far behind O'Leary was Ehab El-Sandali, who registered a time of 30:34.9 to take 29^th place and earn All-American distinction. O’Leary and El-Sandali mark the first time since 2017 that Iona had two All-American performers.

Below are the results of the Gaels men’s finishers:

Name	Place	Time
Jack O’Leary	25	30:29.2
Ehab El-Sandali	29	30.34.9
Jamie Dee	56	31:03.7
Damien Dilcher	113	31:38.4
Campbell Lee	135	32:03.0

The day began with Gemma Nuttall making her NCAA Championship debut in the women’s 6K race. Nuttall represented the Gaels after her first-place finish at the 2020-21 MAAC Cross Country Championships. Her time of 21:43.93 helped the Gaels secure their fifth-straight MAAC title and earned her Women’s Most Outstanding Runner honors.

Nuttall finished 198^th in the women’s 6K race with a time of 22:26.0. She crossed the 2K split in 6:40.7 and 4K split in 14:29.0.

Full results for the 2021 NCAA DI Cross Country Championship can be found here.

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) celebrates its 40^th year of competition during the 2020-21 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.