Players Mentioned
WXC Primed for Second Meet of Fall
9/6/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - Coming off an impressive second-place finish at the Monmouth XC Kick Off last weekend, the Seton Hall women's cross country team will take aim at the top spot at Sunday's 5K Hofstra-St. John's Fall Festival in Oakdale, N.Y.
The Pirates collected a runner-up finish at the meet last fall and will look to establish themselves as the class of a field that will feature a decidedly local flavor.
At the opener last weekend, all five scorers finished among the top-25 Division I entrants as a new-look squad was paced by a combination of new and familiar faces.
Freshman Christiana Rutkowski (Middletown, N.J.) impressed in her collegiate debut, opening her career by posting the fastest 4K time for the Pirates on the day (15:10.3) en route to a fourth-place overall finish.
The stellar effort ranks as the second-fastest mark any Seton Hall runner has recorded at the 4K distance over the last three seasons, trailing only former Pirate Hughnique Rolle who clocked in at 14:44.7 at the same meet to open her senior campaign in 2012.
Current senior leader Mary Migton (Ledgewood, N.J.) was just over two seconds off Rutkowski's pace at the front of the pack, crossing the line at 15:12.4 to set a new personal record. Migton - who has ranked among the top-two on the team in 11 consecutive races - was just one of seven Seton Hall runners who established new personal bests at the shortened distance.
Sophomore Desyre Blackburn (Aloha, Ore.) also re-set her own individual record with a 21st-place performance that was good enough for fourth-place (15:53.3) on the squad. Blackburn was the first Pirate to finish after junior Amanda Quaglia (Reading, Pa.) collected her fourth-consecutive scoring effort and the 14th of her career while coming in 17th-place with a time of 15:48.4.
Newcomer Bailey Seach (Winston Salem, N.C.) rounded out the scoring group with a 15:53.9 showing, clocking in six-tenths of a second behind Blackburn, strengthening the depth of the top-five for the blue & white.
Fellow freshmen Emily Johnson (Wildwood Crest, N.J.) and Emily Curran (Wakefield, Mass.) occupied the sixth and seventh spots in the team rankings respectively while returnees Amanda Catherall (Farmingdale, N.Y.), Felicia Mingrone (Shelton, Conn.), Caitlin O'Kane (Morris Plains, N.J.), Hughnique Rolle (Nassau, Bahamas) and Samantha Young (Upper Black Eddy, Pa.) all turned in new personal records as well.
On Sunday the Pirates will look to use the momentum generated by the wealth of quality performances to improve upon last year's showing at the Fall Festival in which Migton, Blackburn and Bri Miller (Bayonne, N.J.) helped The Hall finish just six points behind team champions Manhattan.
Start-time is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. from Oakdale tomorrow. Follow @SHUPiratesXC on Twitter for updates on the squad throughout the season.
