WXC Kicks Off Championship Season at Metropolitan Championships
10/9/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - Friday will provide another opportunity for the Seton Hall women's cross country team to assert itself as one of the premier teams in the region as the Pirates will toe the line as part of a loaded field at the Metropolitan Championships in the Bronx. Consistency at the top of the lineup has been the key so far for a Seton Hall squad that has collected a top-two finish in three out of four meets to this point in the year. The same five Pirates have scored in three meets including the team's most recent outing at the Asics Embry-Riddle Classic on September 27, with the lone deviation coming in part due to injury.
Freshman Christiana Rutkowski (Middletown, N.J.) was the top collegiate finisher at Embry-Riddle and has immediately stepped in and paced The Hall in each one of her four appearances early in her career. Not only has Rutkowski impressed by routinely ranking first on the team but she has yet to place outside the top-five overall as well.
Junior Amanda Quaglia (Reading, Pa.) recorded a season-best second-place team finish in Florida last time out and has placed among the top-three for the Seton Hall women in all but one event this fall heading into the weekend.
Sophomore Desyre Blackburn (Aloha, Ore.) and freshman Bailey Seach (Winston Salem, N.C.) stand as the other two Pirates who have scored in all four meets during the 2014 season and have completed a front group that has finished no more than 18 spots apart this fall.
Just one season ago, the Pirates' top-five finished within 18 spots of each other only twice.
In the three meets in which she has competed, senior Mary Migton (Ledgewood, N.J.) has ranked no lower than third on the squad; boasting a ledger that includes a pair of top-five overall efforts.
The most experienced of the Pirates' core contributors, Migton is the team's top returning finisher from last season's trip to the Mets where The Hall placed seventh at the 5K event thanks in part to the efforts of two other returning scorers in Blackburn and junior Amanda Catherall (Farmingdale, N.Y.).
Freshman Emily Johnson (Wildwood Crest, N.J.) stepped up to rank second on the team in Migton's absence at the Delaware Invitational but the fastest 5K marks that the Pirates have posted this year belong to the aforementioned group. At a challenging course such as Van Cortlandt Park, the emphasis will continue to be minimizing the gaps between finishers; something that helped Columbia claim the Metropolitan crown in 2013 with a team score of 25.
Freshman Emily Curran (Wakefield, Mass.) and junior Bri Miller (Bayonne, N.J.) have maintained close contact with the Pirates at the front in all four events and could be a key factor in The Hall improving its standing on Friday.
Start-time from the Bronx is set for 2:00 p.m. Check SHUPirates.com and follow @SHUPiratesXC on Twitter for updates on the action throughout the day.
