NIAGARA UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS
LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. — The Niagara men’s and women’s cross country teams competed at the MAAC Championships this afternoon at The Crossings of Colonie. The meet was hosted at Siena College’s home course, where the two squads had competed earlier this fall to preview the course.
Meet Marks (Men)
Meet Marks (Men)
- Like he had in each of the previous five meets this season, Joe Tricarico made it through the course first for Niagara, finishing 99th overall with a time of 28:09.2.
- Daniel Leskowicz came across next for the Purple Eagles, running a 29:40.4. He broke a PR for the second time in three weeks, shaving nearly a second off his 8k time from the John Reif Memorial on October 13.
- Spencer Swoboda’s 30:24.8 was the team’s third-best finish.
- Justin Sagasta (31:00.9), Kevin Verdejo (31:06.7) and Ben Slate (31:17.0) all came through in order. Slate’s time was more than two and a half minutes faster than his 8k at Lehigh’s Paul Short Run on September 29.
- The men’s squad ended the day with 330 points to finish 10th overall, completing the race with an average time of 30:04.4.
Meet Marks (Women)
- Klinowski continued to lead the way for the Purple Eagles, finishing with the team’s lowest time for the sixth time this fall. Her mark of 24:04.1 was good for 63rd overall.
- Junior captain Julia Freemire had her best result of the season, coming in second with a 24:42.0 and 75th overall.
- Stephanie Webster crossed third for the team in 24:58.1, while Meggie Hart was fourth with a 25:10.3.
- Elle Russel completed the team’s score after completing the 6k in 25:33.2.
- Mallory Ronan (27:01.3) and Casey Roman (27:02.9) came across in sixth and seventh, respectively, for Niagara. Roman shaved two seconds off her 6k time compared to her result at Lehigh on September 29 and set a new PR for the event.
- Grace Kibler (27:31.2), Emma Bagnato (27:40.9) and Julianne Gerritsen (28:39.9) also completed the course for Niagara. Kibler broke her 6k personal best and bettered her last 6k time by 39 seconds from the Paul Short Run.
- Overall, the women had 302 points and an average race time of 24:53.6. They also came in 10th as a team.
Coach’s Corner
- Head coach Christine Kloiber: “The entirety of our team ran incredible today. The conditions were tough: 40 degrees, incessant rain, and some harsh gusts of wind; but not one of our athletes gave in. I know that they were in terrific shape based on the past two races. I know they would have liked to actualize their fitness into a posted time, but that’s the sport — sometimes the planets align and the weather behaves just right like it did two weeks ago. Sometimes it tests your mettle. They met that challenge and represented Niagara well.”
In Other News
- The MAAC released the 2018 All-Academic Teams for both men’s and women’s cross country following the conclusion of today’s meet. Niagara was represented by five runners between the two squads.
- Ryan DeLola (3.54 GPA), Swoboda (3.81) and Tricarico (3.84) were the student-athletes named to the team for the Purple Eagles. 96 male runners from 10 of the MAAC’s 11 schools qualified for the distinction.
- The two student athletes from the women’s side to earn the honor were Emma Bagnato (3.30) and Nora Klinowski (3.81). 98 female runners from the MAAC’s 11 schools qualified for the distinction.
- To be eligible for the MAAC All-Academic Team, a student-athlete must complete two semesters at their institution and hold a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 on a 4.0 scale.
Up Next
- Niagara’s women’s team will send up to seven runners to the NCAA Regional Championship, hosted by the University at Buffalo on Friday, Nov. 9. The 6k race will get underway at 11 a.m. and will take place at the Audobon Golf Course in Amherst, New York.
