RIVERDALE, N.Y. – The NCAA Northeast Regional Cross Country Championships returned to historic Van Cortlandt Park for the second consecutive year on Friday afternoon. With berths in the NCAA Championships on the line, the Manhattan College men's team placed 31st overall. The Jasper women, meanwhile, captured 35th place as a team.
Up first were the women, who raced over 6000 meters. Milena Stoicev (Nis, Serbia), who finished 10th at the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championships two weeks ago, placed just outside the Top 100. She ended up 106th overall in a time of 22:10.19. Alexandra Cappello (Scarsdale, N.Y.) placed 213th in 23:54.86, while Alexa Roda (Staten Island, N.Y.) was 215th in 23:57.61. Grace Ostolozaga (Stony Point, N.Y.) was the next Jasper across the line. She took 219th place in a time of 24:01.47. Manhattan's other three finishers were Alyssa Windle (Redlands, Calif.) in 241st (24:35.36), 251st-place Samantha Manalastas (Smithtown, N.Y.) (24:55.90) and Kelly Gorman (South Amboy, N.J.), who took 268th in 26:00.10.
Manhattan's team score of 994 points was good enough for 35th place. MAAC champion Iona had the top two finishers (and three of the top six) to claim the regional title and an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships. The Gaels will be joined at Nationals by Providence, which edged Dartmouth by eight points for the second guaranteed spot.
For the men, the NCAA Regionals are raced over 10,000 meters, 2000 more than the regular distance. The extended distance didn't hinder Shane Beyer (Brick, N.J.), who was once again Manhattan's top finisher. He claimed 158th place overall with a time of 33:04.13. The rest of the Jaspers ran together for much of the race, all crossing the line within 1:12 of each other. Kevin O'Brien (Attleboro, Mass.) was 182nd in 33:22.57, while Conor McDonough (Niskayuna, N.Y.) placed 186th in a time of 33:28.08. Stephen Chantry (Willamsburg, Va.) finished in a time of 33:45.18, which was good for 200th place, and Mikael Rojeras (Sala, Sweden) took 218th in 34:08.58. Anthony Colasurdo (Lankoa Harbor, N.J.) (233rd, 34:33.94) and Greg Perrier (Dix Hills, N.Y.) (234th, 34:34.94) rounded out Manhattan's finishers.
In a great team battle, the top three squads were separated by a mere 15 points. Syracuse claimed the Regional crown with 45 points, just three ahead of second-place Providence. Despite boasting individual winner Jake Byrne, Iona didn't earn one of the two automatic team spots. The Gaels were third with 60 team points. Manhattan's team score was 944, placing the Jaspers 31st.
The Jaspers return to Van Cortlandt Park next weekend for the season-ending ECAC/IC4A Championships. Competition gets underway at 10:15 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 22.