Seton Hall University
BIG EAST Championships
XC Runs at BIG EAST Championships
10/26/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
BRONX, N.Y. - The Seton Hall men's and women's cross country teams traveled to the borough of the Bronx on Friday morning, taking the course at Van Cortlandt Park to participate in the 2012 BIG EAST Cross Country Championships.
Each squad posted a 14th place team finish on the day. For the Pirate women, it was the highest finish in eight years, while the men have now placed 14th in four consecutive trips to the conference meet.
Defending NCAA champions Georgetown claimed their first women's championship since 2001 behind three top-10 individual finishes. Syracuse doubled its championship haul on the men's side, striding to their third team title in four years behind individual champion, Martin Hehir.
The women's race played out in familiar fashion for SHU, with the usual suspects again heading the pack throughout the 6,000-meter competition. As has been the case in every event this season, senior Hughnique Rolle (Nassau, Bahamas) led the way for the women's squad, placing 77th overall (23:40.78), a career-best finish in her fourth appearance at the BIG EAST Championship.
Junior Nyala Eddings (Chicago, Ill.) also turned in a personal-best finish on the conference championship stage, clocking in at 24:07.08 to secure 85th place. Sophomore Mary Migton (Ledgewood, N.J.) crossed next for the Pirates, occupying 94th place with a time of 24:32.28. Freshman Amanda Quaglia (Reading, Pa.) continued her steady run through her debut campaign, finishing 101st overall (24:51.15).
In accordance with scoring rules, Rolle, Eddings, Migton and Quaglia all contributed marks under 100 to the team score. It is the first time that Seton Hall has had a quartet of women score double-digit points at the championship since 2004.
Junior Kristen May (Shrewsbury, Mass.) continued her run of good form, rounding out the team's scoring for the fourth consecutive meet with a 26:26.18 effort (120th overall). Freshman Alex Ryan (Aurora, Colo.) was the next competitor across the line, finishing in 27:22.86.
Freshman Samantha Young (Upper Black Eddy, Pa.) placed 123rd followed by seniors Christina Chafos (South Amboy, N.J.) and Marigot Lustyk (Honeoye Falls, N.Y.) who finished back-to-back in their final trip to the BIG EAST Championship.
The Pirates collected a team score of 407, the team's lowest cumulative mark since 2002 and 11 points clear of DePaul in 15th place. Villanova junior Emily Lipari was crowned BIG EAST champion after finishing in 20:45.33.
Senior Jared Hanko (Montville, N.J.) became a four-time scorer for Seton Hall at the BIG EAST Championship on Friday, contributing a career-low 72 points with an 80th place finish (27:18.57) at the 8K race. A consistent leader for the squad, Hanko extended his streak as the team's top finisher to 16 meets.
Freshman Ryan Flannery (Forked River, N.J.) was undaunted by the stage at the championships, picking up a career-best second place team finish with his second-fastest 8K time of the season (28:01.01, 93rd overall). Junior Carl Johnston (Surrey, British Columbia) scored for the second time in his BIG EAST Championship career, clocking in at 29:18.67 to claim 106th place.
Sophomore Tyler Orner (Sinking Spring, Pa.) led a trio of Pirates who finished less than a minute later. Orner crossed the line in 29:29.60 to occupy the 108th position, finishing among the top-four on the squad at the conference meet for the second year in a row.
Senior Cory Hellwig (Vernon, N.J.) was the next competitor across the line (29:51.96), followed closely by freshman Jacob Bast (St. Louis, Mo.) who registered a time of 29:55.96. It was Hellwig's fifth top-five team finish in seven events this year and he has now scored twice in three trips to the BIG EAST Championships.
The men's team score of 434 was just 16 points shy of USF in 13th place.
Friday marked the beginning of the championship season for the Seton Hall cross country teams as the Pirates will head to State College, Pa. next to run at the NCAA Mid-East Regional Championships meet. The race is currently scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 9.
