Seton Hall University
Leopard Invitational
Both XC Teams 9th at Leopard Invite
10/13/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
EASTON, PA. - Earlier today, the Seton Hall men’s and women’s cross country teams took to the course for the final time prior to the championship season as part of the field at the Leopard Invitational, hosted by Lafayette College.
Competing against 12 other schools, both squads completed their longest race to this point in the season with the women running a 6K and the men’s race covering five miles. Seton Hall posted ninth place finishes in each competition.
Coming off a top-six team finish at last week’s Metropolitan Championships, the Seton Hall women were led by senior Hughnique Rolle (Nassau, Bahamas) on Saturday morning, as the fourth-year competitor turned in a 27th place time of 22:35.86. Dating back to last season, Rolle has now led the squad in the last eight events.
Sophomore Mary Migton (Ledgewood, N.J.) also finished in the top-40 out of 143 female runners, ending her day in 37th position with a final time of 22:50.31. Migton has followed up a stellar freshman season during which she finished in the top-two for Seton Hall in every meet by posting three second-place team finishes and scoring in all six outings this year as well.
Just over six seconds later, junior Nyala Eddings (Chicago, Ill.) secured her fifth consecutive top-three finish amongst the SHU women by coming 42nd place overall (22:56.98). Only two runners crossed the line between Eddings and Amanda Quaglia (Reading, Pa.), as the freshman finished in 23:02.24 to occupy 45th place.
Rounding out the Pirates’ scoring was junior Kristen May (Shrewsbury, Mass.) in 102nd position (24:44.42). May has found her stride in the latter part of her second year competing for The Hall, scoring in team’s last three meets.
Rolle, Eddings and May all surpassed their previous career best times at the 6K distance. Eddings improved upon her previous mark by over a minute and a half while May bested her fastest time entering the day by more than three and a half minutes.
Seniors Christina Chafos (South Amboy, N.J.) and Marigot Lustyk (Honeoye Falls, N.Y.) and sophomore Louisa Ozimek (Strongsville, Ohio) also posted career best performances on the day.
As a team, the SHU women registered a collective score of 219. Pennsylvania took the team title with a score of 21 that included the top-two and four of the top-five individual finishers.
In a familiar scene, senior Jared Hanko (Montville, N.J.) crossed the line first for the SHU men, finishing 22nd out of 115 entrants with a time of 26:13.93. Hanko has now led the Pirates in all six meets this season and has finished first for the team in 15 straight appearances.
Junior Carl Johnston (Surrey, British Columbia) has followed Hanko to the finish for The Hall in each outing this season, again finishing second on the team after posting a 54th place time of 27:13.34. Next to finish was freshman Ryan Flannery (Forked River, N.J.), who placed 63rd overall (27:21.74) to finish third on the team for the third straight meet and contribute to the team score for the fifth time in 2012.
Also scoring for the fifth time in six starts this year was sophomore Tyler Orner (Sinking Spring, Pa.). Orner took 84th position by finishing in 28:08.03, just under 14 seconds ahead of senior Cory Hellwig (Vernon, N.J.) who completed SHU’s scoring group by clocking in at 28:21.93 to finish 89th.
The men’s team finished with a score of 269, placing ninth among 13 teams. American University picked up four top-six finishes and completed the day atop the team leaderboard with a score of 27.
Both Seton Hall cross country teams will have a weekend off before returning to Van Cortland Park in the Bronx on Friday, Oct. 26 for the 2012 BIG EAST Championships. It will be the second time in three weeks that the Pirates tackle the course at Van Cortland, after the women finished sixth and the men placed ninth at the Metropolitan Championships on Friday, Oct. 5.
Last season, the men posted a 14th place finish and were led by Hanko (74th) at the conference meet, while the women placed 15th with Migton coming across as the team’s top finisher in 65th.
