MXC Set for Mid-Atlantic Regional
11/9/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – Tomorrow afternoon, the Seton Hall men’s cross country team will head to State College, Pa. to take on the field at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships.
The 10K men’s competition will commence at 1:15 p.m. as a follow-up to the 6K women’s race that is set to start at Noon.
Last time out, both squads recorded 14th place finishes at the conference meet, as senior leaders Hughnique Rolle (Nassau, Bahamas) and Jared Hanko (Montville, N.J.) continued to set the pace for their respective teams.
Seton Hall’s unquestioned leader, Hanko has been the top finisher on the men’s team for 16 straight meets. Through seven races, he has recorded five top-25 individual finishes, a figure that includes three top-five performances as well. His stewardship helped propel the Pirates to their most successful stretch in recent memory earlier this season, a run that featured three consecutive second place team finishes.
At the 2011 regional, he posted a time of 34:42.8, a career-best time on a 10,000-meter course.
The team has also been buoyed by a return to form from junior Carl Johnston (Surrey, British Columbia). Johnston, the last male runner to lead Seton Hall in a competition besides Hanko, has delivered results reminiscent of his highly successful freshman campaign. The native Canadian has registered has placed in the top-10 in two races and in the top-15 three times while finishing every event but one with Seton Hall’s second-fastest time.
His 33:48.0 at the 2010 regional, the last time the event was held in State College, is the fastest 10K time that any current Pirate has managed in a collegiate event.
One of the surprises of the 2012 season has been the steady contributions from freshman Ryan Flannery (Forked River, N.J.). Like Johnston, Flannery has three top-15 finishes to his credit this year. In his first appearance at the BIG EAST Championships, Flannery became the first Pirate other than Johnston to finish second on the team. His effort extended his scoring streak to six consecutive meets.
Sophomore Tyler Orner (Sinking Spring, Pa.) has also been a consistent presence among SHU’s top performers; scoring in six out of seven meets as well. Orner has carried over the momentum he built by scoring in the final four meets of his freshman season, including a fourth place team finish at last year’s Mid-Atlantic Regional. This year, Orner has put together two separate streaks of three straight meets among Seton Hall’s top-five finishers, one of which is currently active.
Joining Hanko, Johnston, Flannery, and Orner in the Seton Hall scoring group at the BIG EAST Championships was senior Cory Hellwig (Vernon, N.J.). Hellwig’s third year of competition has been his most successful, as he has scored for the team in five of seven events. On three different occasions, he has bested the time that stood as his fastest ever 8K mark entering the season. Hellwig did not compete at the 2011 regional race, but was present in the SHU lineup for the 2010 race, helping the squad to a 27th place finish.
The only other team member to record a scoring time this season is freshman Jacob Bast (St. Louis, Mo.). Bast has contributed to the team score four times behind three top-20 overall finishes.
Senior Tony Cramond (Monroe, Conn.) and sophomore Kevin Walsh (Deltaville, Va.) also have previous experience at the regional event. Cramond has competed in six consecutive events while Walsh has missed all but one race this season due to injury.
Seton Hall enters the regional with four scorers from last year still on the roster (Hanko, Johnston, Orner, Walsh). The team finished 25th while Georgetown took the crown with a score of 47.
Last time the meet was ran at Penn State in 2010, the Pirates finished 27th.
Following the completion of the Regionals, the Pirates will have a week off before closing the 2012 season at the ECAC Championships. The meet is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 17 at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx.
The race will mark the Pirates’ third trip to VCP this year.
