Seton Hall University
IC4A/ECAC Championships
XC Concludes Season at ECAC/IC4A
11/18/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
BRONX, N.Y. – Competing for the final time in the 2012 season, the Seton Hall cross country teams traveled to Van Cortlandt Park for the third time in just over a month to take on the field at the ECAC/ICAAAA Championships.
In a year where the narrative was dominated by the prominent performances by seniors Hughnique Rolle (Nassau, Bahamas) and Jared Hanko (Montville, N.J.), the final outing saw two new leaders emerge.
Junior Nyala Eddings (Chicago, Ill.), an experienced team member who has scored in all but two of the meets she has entered since stepping on campus, crossed as the top finisher on the team for the first time in her career. Eddings finished the day with a 5K time of 19:53.1, ranking 54th out of 177 female runners in the ECAC university division.
The effort was the second-fastest 5K time of her career, behind only her 19:29.09 mark at the Cappy Anderson Invitational earlier this year.
Sophomore Mary Migton (Ledgewood, N.J.) finished under two seconds later (19:54.7), placing 57th. A steady force for the Pirates, Migton ranked second on the squad on four occasions in 2012 and has competed and scored in all 18 meets through her first two seasons in blue and white.
Closing a career in which she paced the team in more than 18 events, Rolle clocked in at 20:44.6 to occupy the 108th spot. The finish broke of streak of 10 consecutive events where she turned in the top time for The Hall, but Rolle contributed a top-three time for SHU in every race she competed in over her final three seasons.
Earlier this year, the Bahamas native became the first SHU runner to record an individual win since the program transitioned exclusively to cross country, taking the crown at the 5K Hofstra Brick Stone Run. Rolle was also a four-time scorer at the BIG EAST Championships, twice leading the Pirates in the event.
Freshman Amanda Quaglia (Reading, Pa.) wrapped up a stellar debut campaign by finishing among Seton Hall’s top-five for the ninth time in as many events this season. Quaglia was the fourth Pirate to complete the course, registering a time of 20:51.9 (114th). Classmate Alex Ryan (Aurora, Colo.) rounded out the scoring group for the second straight meet and the fifth time this year. Ryan ran a 140th place time of 21:35.1, finishing one spot and just over two seconds ahead of junior Kristen May (Shrewsbury, Mass.).
Senior Christina Chafos (South Amboy, N.J.) finished 168th (23:34.7) to complete her three-year career.
The Seton Hall women placed 16th out of 19 teams, amassing a score of 416 points. The result is a one spot improvement from a 17th place effort a year ago.
Sacred Heart won the university division team title, finishing with 73 points. Bethany Sachtleben of George Mason won the individual title with a time of 18:04.3.
The Seton Hall men finished the day by placing 14th in the 16-team ICAAAA university division five-mile race. The Pirates’ cumulative score of 353 points was only 11 points short of 13th place. Fairfield edged hosts Fordham by one point to earn the team title with 58 points.
Freshman Ryan Flannery (Forked River, N.J.) put an exclamation mark on a season in which he steadily climbed up the SHU lineup, becoming the first Seton Hall male other than Hanko to lead the team since the beginning of the 2011 season.
Flannery recorded a time 27:22.7 to place 45th in a field of 151 competitors. The local Jersey product scored in the final eight meets of the year and ranked among the team’s top-three in six consecutive outings to close the season.
Hanko was the second Pirate to complete the course, crossing in 28:08.8 to finish 81st. The effort punctuated a decorated career for Hanko at the Hall as he stood as the team’s central figure for the better part of two years. A reflection of his consistency, the Montville native finished either first or second on the squad in all but one meet in which he ran since the start of his sophomore season.
Ranking third on the team for the second meet in a row and the fourth time in 2012 was sophomore Tyler Orner (Sinking Spring, Pa.). Orner ran his way to a time of 28:17.4 and finished 86th overall. Junior Carl Johnston (Surrey, British Columbia) contributed a fourth top-100 time for SHU, placing 94th (28:31.8).
Senior Cory Hellwig (Vernon, N.J.) scored for the fourth straight event and the seventh time this season, wrapping up his collegiate career with a 29:02.6 effort that ranked 112th among all runners. Classmate Tony Cramond (Monroe, Conn.) also competed for the last time in a Seton Hall uniform, placing 131st (30:23.9).
Colgate’s Christopher Johnson was the men’s individual champion with a 25:28.8 mark.
The meet concludes a season that featured marked improvement for both squads on the course.
The Seton Hall women started the year with top-three finishes in the first four events and also turned in their best results at the Metropolitan and BIG EAST Championships in recent years. Eddings and Migton were consistently near the top of the lineup while Quaglia and Ryan proved their ability to contribute in just their first year on campus. Kristen May, a second year competitor, also arose as a force in the latter part of the schedule.
The men's team registered three consecutive second place finishes in the middle of the year and was buoyed by the efforts of Flannery, Orner, a rejuvinated Johnston and freshman Jacob Bast (St. Louis, Mo.), all of whom are eligible to return next season.
