Seton Hall University
Asics-Embry Riddle Classic
MXC Takes Second at ASICS Embry-Riddle Classic
9/27/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. - Sophomore Victor Ricci (Narragansett, R.I.) led a group of five top-20 finishers for the Seton Hall men's cross country squad on Sunday as the Pirates placed second out of 10 teams at the 8K ASICS Embry-Riddle Classic in Daytona Beach, Fla.
The team-best time of 27:42.81 led Ricci to an 11th-place finish overall and his second scoring time of the season. It was also the first time in 2014 that he has ranked first on the team after he paced the Pirates on five separate occasions as a freshman last fall.
Freshman Jake Simon (Freehold, N.J.) who led the squad in the previous outing at the Delaware Invitational added to his superb debut campaign with a 15th-place time of 27:58.14 to begin a run of three-straight Pirates across the line.
Seniors Kevin Walsh (Deltaville, Va.) and John Walsh (Deltaville, Va.) followed Simon to the line, continuing a resurgence that has seen the pair establish themselves as two of the Pirates' most consistent contributors this season. Running stride-for-stride, the tandem clocked in within .5 seconds of each other as Kevin collected a time of 28:10.51 with John close behind at 28:10.99.
After scoring for the first time since his freshman year in the opener at Monmouth, Kevin has placed among the Pirates' top-three runners in all four meets while John has now strung together consecutive scoring efforts at the 8K distance.
Junior Ryan Flannery (Forked River, N.J.) also returned to the scoring group for the first time this season, collecting a 19th-place time of 28:16.05 to round out The Hall's top-five.
Seton Hall finished with 73 points on the day, finishing behind only hosts Embry-Riddle to earn their third consecutive top-two team finish.
In all, eight Pirates cracked the top-30 in a field of 94 entrants as sophomore Cameron Quisenberry (Owensboro, Ky.) placed 22nd (28:27.02), freshman Louis Bustamante (Hamburg, N.J.) ranked 25th with a time of 28:33.25 and classmate Jeff Larson (Yucca Valley, Calif.) also cracked the 29-minute mark, taking 29th-place in the process (28:55.60).
Junior Walter Grosenheider (Madison, Wisc.) narrowly missed out on making it nine Seton Hall representatives in the top-30 as he placed 31st overall after reaching the finish in 29:15.81.
The Hall will receive another weekend off from competition before traveling to the famed Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx for the Metropolitan Championships, the first of four championship meets on the schedule this fall.
