CANISIUS COLLEGE ATHLETICS
BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Canisius women’s cross country team finished fifth and the men’s team placed seventh in their respective races at Saturday’s MAAC Cross Country Championships in Loudonville, N.Y. Senior Siobhan Quinn and junior Nick Neamtu received All-MAAC honors for their finishes at the conference’s annual championship event.
The men’s 8K kicked off the MAAC Championships on a rainy Saturday morning. The Golden Griffins finished in seventh place with 163 points as a team behind the efforts of Neamtu who recorded a ninth-place finish, crossing the line in 25:39, followed by freshman Michael Peppy who finished with a time of 26:30 in 35th position. JuniorsAnthony Belfatto and Henry Burton also recorded top-50 finishes with times of 26:35 and 26:37, respectively. Senior Paul Henry rounded out the Griffs top-five, clocking in at 26:45.
Iona (35) won their 28th consecutive MAAC Men’s Cross Country Championship behind individual winner Liam Dee (25:01). Siena (77), Monmouth (88), Quinnipiac (101) and Manhattan (120) took spots two through five. Marist 127, Canisius, Rider (211), Fairfield (274), Niagara (330) and Saint Peter’s (357) rounded out the men’s standings.
In the women’s championship race, the Blue and Gold finished in fifth place as a team with 129 overall points. Quinn recorded a second-place finish with a time of 21:32, 21 seconds behind Iona’s Egle Morenaite. Senior Carlin Sullivan placed 16th with a time of 22:29, followed by fellow seniors Kayla Stewart (23:21), Aileen Doyle(23:32) and sophomore Emily Scheck (23:39). The Blue and Gold’s top-five all finished in the top-50 of the women’s 6K event.
Iona took home their third-straight conference team title with 21 points. Marist (85) finished second, followed by host Siena in third with 114 points. Quinnipiac (127) edged the Griffs to take fourth place, with Monmouth (154), Manhattan (158) and Rider (188) take slots six through eight. Fairfield (267), Niagara (302) and Saint Peter’s (360) round out the bottom three.
Coach Nate Huckle‘s Post Race Comments
“In the men’s race, we had some great individual performances. Nick Neamtu sneaking into the top-10 today, he just gritted it out in tough conditions and put himself in a great position early and then moved up through the field. That was one of the best performances I have ever seen from him. Overall, the effort was really solid, it is a tough conference with tough competition, there are a lot of teams battling for positions two through seven.”
“I was really pleased with Siobhan taking second place in the women’s race. Carlin Sullivan was just outside of all-conference and Kayla Stewart had a great race as a senior, then in the back Emily Scheck came in and had a great race as well. It was a good team effort today. We are consistently around that fifth spot and we held our ground there.”
Up Next
The Golden Griffins will next run in the NCAA Northeast Regional, hosted by the University at Buffalo, on Friday Nov. 9.
