The Quinnipiac men’s cross country team finished third out of 12 teams and the women’s squad was seventh out of 12 at the 2002 Northeast Conference Cross Country Championships on Saturday afternoon in New Britain, Conn. Freshmen Katie Gwyther and Michael Charron both earned All-NEC honors for the Bobcats.
Women’s head coach Shawn Greene was pleased with the performances from both teams.
“We’re really psyched about the third place finish for the men’s team and with having two all-conference performers. I think we really made other schools take notice of who we are and what we can do,” said Greene.
On the men’s side, Charron was Quinnipiac’s top finisher, taking twelfth overall in 26:22.6 to earn all-conference honors.
“Charron ran a fantastic race for us. To earn all-conference honors as a freshman is really something to be proud of,” said men’s head coach Ed O’Connor
Junior Tim Moylan was fifteenth in 26:29.2, while freshmen Jeffrey Roginielewicz (26:53.5) and Todd Raymond (26:53.9 were twenty-third and twenty-fourth respectively for the Bobcats. Freshman Mark Driscoll was thirty-third in 27:26.8, while classmate Greg Brink was thirty-fifth in 27:34.8 and freshman Anthony Mio was thirty-sixth in 27:45.1.
“We knew going in we had to run a good, smart race to break into the top three, and that’s what we did today. It was our top finish since we moved to Division I,” said O’Connor.
St. Francis (PA) captured the men’s title for the fourth consecutive season, finishing with 50 points. Sophomore Ryan Sheehan was first individually for the Red Flash in 25:01.8. UMBC took second with 76 points, followed by Quinnipiac in third with 106, Monmouth in fourth with 133 and Mount St. Mary’s in fifth with 147.
O’Connor was very pleased with the men’s overall performance.
“The team really works hard and it all came together for them today. I’m very proud of them,” said O’Connor.
On the women’s side, Gwyther crossed first for the Bobcats, taking fourth place in 18:32.3 to earn all-league accolades. Frehman Danielle Green was twenty-eighth in 19:39.8, followed by classmates Katie Manger (19:51.9) and Sarah DeFreitas (20:12.1), who were thirty-fifth and forty-third respectively for Quinnipiac. Freshman Joanna Perez was forty-ninth in 20:21.8, junior Kate Gustafson was fifty-fourth in 20:31.5 and junior Jamie Scholl was sixty-fifth in 20:59.6 for the Bobcats.
St. Francis (PA) also took the women’s title, its second in a row, with 51 points. Graduate student Kristen Cerasi was first overall in 17:59.7. Sacred Heart was second with 78 points, followed by UMBC in third (84), Monmouth in fourth (117), Wagner in fifth (133), Mount St. Mary’s in sixth (141) and Quinnipiac in seventh (157).
“I’m disappointed with the seventh place finish, but our entire top five were freshmen and they all ran extremely well for us. I’m incredibly pleased with how the team performed today,” said Greene.