Players Mentioned
XC Update: Golden Ram Invitational
3/25/2013 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
WEST CHESTER, PA. – The Seton Hall cross country program kicked off its spring season this past weekend, traveling to West Chester University to participate in the Golden Ram Track & Field Invitational.
The Pirates had a presence in nine events on the day, primarily competing in long-distance disciplines.
Sophomore Tyler Orner (Sinking Spring, Pa.) delivered the headline performance for SHU in his return to his native state, crossing the line first in the men’s 10K run with a time of 34:26.45 nearly 14 seconds ahead of his closest competitor.
Competing for the first time since completing a senior season in which he led the team in all but one race, Jared Hanko (Montville, N.J.) picked up a top-five finish of his own in the 1,500-meter competition, recording a time of 4:08.75 that was good enough for fourth overall among 58 entrants.
The men’s squad also collected two top-10 finishes in the 5K competition as freshmen Ryan Flannery (Forked River, N.J.) and Jacob Bast (St. Louis, Mo.) placed sixth and ninth overall respectively.
Flannery entered the spring coming off a surging close to the cross country season where he finished among the top two on the squad in the final three races, culminating in a team-leading performance for The Hall at the IC4A Championships. The Forked River native continued to show improvement over the weekend, posting a time of 16:02.48 that was just over two seconds shy of the top-five. A scorer in five meets in the fall, Bast finished in 16:25.74 to lock up a fourth top-10 individual finish for the team overall.
Bast, Flannery and Hanko closed the day by teaming with Carl Johnston (Surrey, British Columbia) to finish third in their heat in the 4x400 meter relay, finishing with a time of 3:36.63 that ranked eighth overall.
The Seton Hall women were represented in five events at the meet, taking home three top-10 and six top-20 performances before the day was done.
Senior Hughnique Rolle (Nassau, Bahamas) was the top individual performer for the squad on the day, a feat she accomplished in all but the final race of the cross country season. Rolle’s 1,500-meter time of 4:52.67 ranked fourth among 66th competitors and just ahead of sophomore Mary Migton (Ledgewood, N.J.) who came in three spots later with a 4:55.48 mark.
Seton Hall narrowly missed placing a trio in the top-10 of the event as junior Nyala Eddings (Chicago, Ill.) added an 11th place finish after crossing in 5:01.48. Eddings scored for the team in all nine meets in the fall and was the only Pirate other than Rolle to record a team-leading performance.
She later combined with Migton, Rolle, and sophomore Allyson Guieb (Robbinsville, N.J.) to produce a fifth-place effort in the 4x400 relay as the Pirates’ “A” squad finished with a time of 4:05.67.
A newcomer who only competed in two events during the cross country season, Guieb also competed in the 400-meter hurdles, placing 16th in 1:13.85.
At the more familiar 5K distance, the Seton Hall women were led by senior Christina Chafos (South Amboy, N.J.) who ran a 21:02.20 to finish 15th. Sophomore Louisa Ozimek (Strongsville, Ohio) and freshman Amanda Catherall (Farmingville, N.Y.) also competed in the event, placing 19th and 26th respectively.
Student-athletes from both programs will once again be back in action this weekend as the Pirates head down the shore to take part in a two-day meet hosted by Monmouth University. Competition will begin on Friday, March 29 and conclude the following day. Start-time on Friday is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
