MXC Heads into Leopard Invitational
10/17/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - A much improved Seton Hall men's cross country side heads into its final tune-up for the 2014 BIG EAST Championship this weekend, traveling to Easton, Pa. to take on the field at the Leopard Invitational.
The Pirates will be in action for the second-straight week after placing seventh at the Metropolitan Championships on Saturday, a race in which senior Kevin Walsh (Deltaville, Va.) earned his third team-leading time of the season.
Kevin Walsh has ranked among the Pirates' top-three in all five minutes to this point in a breakout campaign and with his performance in the Bronx last weekend, now owns the top 5K, 6K and 5-mile times on the team this fall.
The Leopard Invitational course will be 8,000-meters however; a distance in which freshman Jake Simon (Freehold, N.J.) paced The Hall at the Delaware Invitational. Simon did not score at The Mets but has finished among the top-two on the squad three times in 2014.
Fellow newcomer Jeff Larson (Yucca Valley, Calif.) picked up the third scoring time of his first collegiate season last weekend and is responsible for the fourth-fastest 8K mark posted by the men's team this year. Larson was followed to the line by Bryant Cordova (Elizabeth, N.J.) who has also now tallied a trio of scoring efforts.
While the squad's extensive group of freshmen has had an immediate impact, The Hall brings back four returning scorers from the 2013 Leopard Invitational.
Junior Ryan Flannery (Forked River, N.J.) who led the Pirates in Easton last October has come on of late; scoring in the last two meets. Sophomores Sean Kip (Union, N.J.), Cameron Quisenberry (Owensboro, Ky.) and Victor Ricci (Narragansett, R.I.) placed third, fourth and fifth for the squad respectively in 2013 and have combined for four scoring times in five meets to this point in the year.
Senior John Walsh (Deltaville, Va.) has enjoyed a similar level of success of that achieved by his twin brother Kevin, emerging to total four scoring times of his own in this his final go-around.
John Walsh and Kip also rank among the top-five on the team in terms of fastest 8K marks, all of which were recorded at the Delaware Invitational.
With a number of threats to creep up near the front of the pack, the Pirates will be looking to move up the team leaderboard from last year's ninth-place showing and perhaps unseat reigning meet champions American.
Start time on Saturday morning is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. For updates, follow @SHUPiratesXC on Twitter and check back on SHUPirates.com.
