Gael Force: Men's Cross Country Storms Past Pair of Top-10 Teams
7/16/2010 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Men's Results
Women's Results
RIVERDALE, N.Y. -- The Kent State men's
cross country team dominated the field for a second straight meet,
capturing the 15th Annual Br. John "Paddy" Doyle/Iona College Meet
of Champions title with a 59-point performance Saturday (Sept. 19)
at Van Cortlandt Park in Riverdale, N.Y.
The Golden Flashes beat out fourth-ranked Wisconsin and
seventh-ranked host Iona to bring home the gold. KSU opened the
season Sept. 5 in Akron, Ohio with a first-place performance at the
Tommy Evans Invitational.
On the women's side, junior Alexandra
Lizarribar (Clyde, Ohio/Clyde) ran the race of her
life in her first ever collegiate meet, taking second place in
22:52.10 to pace the squad to a fourth-place finish (132
points).
"Top to bottom, I thought it was a great weekend, probably our
best since I've been here," said Head Coach Mark Croghan.
It was a great weekend for Kent State cross country and for not
only the men, but also the women's team," said Director of Cross
Country and Track and Field Bill Lawson. "Being able to knock off
two top-10 nationally-ranked teams: it was a great weekend. We are
where we want to be at this point in the cross country season with
winning the Iona meet.
"Congratulations to the men and women's team. Coach Croghan has done a great job so far this season," added Lawson.
Three Flashes finished in the top 10 for the men's team and Kent
State's top five runners all placed in the top 30.
Junior Scott Hilditch (Stow, Ohio/Stow)
led the way, timing in at 25:33.47 for fifth place while
senior Aiman Scullion (Salem,
Ohio/Salem) and junior John Minen (Medina, Ohio/Highland) finished eighth
(25:43.69) and ninth (25:45.28), respectively. Fifth-year
senior Tony Jordanek (Lexington,
Ohio/Lexington) assured KSU four top-20 finishes by crossing the
line in 26:03.35 for 19th place. Redshirt
freshman Michael Heller (Stow,
Ohio/Stow) rounded out Kent State's top five by taking 28th in
26:15.47
"I was probably as surprised as anybody else, but we talked to the
team last night about getting in position to run your race. From
one through seven, we did just that," said Croghan. "Our top four
guys all had the capability to finish in the top 10-to-20. I knew
we were capable of putting together that kind of performance, and I
was really happy to see us go out and do just that."
It was an afternoon full of surprises for Croghan, who was equally
impressed with the performance of the women's team, led by
Lizarribar.
"Alex was amazing. To come out and finish second in her first
collegiate race was amazing," said Croghan.
Sophomore Audrey Maheu (Bristolville,
Ohio/Warren John F. Kennedy) netted the Flashes two top-20
finishes, placing 20th in 23:49.52.
Freshman Ecaterina Gheorghiu (Iasi, Romania/LPS Iasi) finished strong to
take 22nd with a time of 23:55.31. Juniors Kelly
Gephart (Oak Harbor, Ohio/Oak Harbor)
and Allison Krupko (Homeworth,
Ohio/Marlington) earned top-five team finishes for Kent State,
taking 34th (24:06.19) and 54th (24:32.72), respectively.
"Audrey and Kelly competed well and tactically ran the race well,"
said Croghan. "Ecterina ran amazing. To sit back as far as she did
in the first two miles and pour it on down the stretch like she did
was great."
The teams look to continue the hot starts to their seasons next Saturday (Sept. 26) at the Ohio Invitational in Athens, Ohio.
