Paced by individual champion Olivia Moran, the Canisius men’s and women’s cross country teams swept the Little Three Championships Friday at Delaware Park.
In the annual race that puts the Golden Griffins up against regional rivals Niagara and St. Bonaventure, defending men’s champion Tom Appenheimer crossed the finish line in third place with a time of 15:09.2, placing just behind Clay Peets of St Bonaventure (15:02.0), and Braden York of Niagara (15.08.5). The result was Appenheimer’s fourth top-three finish in the Little Three Championships during his time at Canisius.
Canisius dominated the top 10 spots in the men’s race, placing seven runners in the top 10. Senior Ronan McDonald (15:33.4) took fifth while graduate student Andrew Perreault (15:37.7), sophomore transfer Kyle Urban (15:53.2), sophomore Brody Jones (16:01.8), senior Max Chew (16:20.0), and senior Kevin Board (16:30.9) claimed spots 6-10, respectively.
The Canisius men claimed its 17th straight Little Three men’s crown as it posted a team score of 29 points, 12 points clear of St. Bonaventure (41) and more than 40 in front of Niagara (71).
On the women’s side, Canisius grabbed the top four places, led by Moran, who won the women’s 5K with a time of 17:51.0. She was followed by sophomore Jacqueline Appenheimer (18:45.2), sophomore Kayla Schmidt (18:54.2), and senior Jules Jones (18:59.4).
The defending champion, graduate student Marissa Silba, finished in eighth place (19:42.7), followed closely by junior Taylor Heschke (19:44.8) in ninth.
As a team, Canisius finished with a total of 18 points, 29 in front of St. Bonaventure and more than 50 points ahead of Niagara as it captured its 18th Little Three women’s team title in the last 20 championships.
Canisius returns to action on Sept. 16 when it travels to Montgomery, N.Y., to take part in the Jasper Fall XC Invitational.
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