Men's Results
Women's Results
RIVERDALE, N.Y. – It was a perfect day for racing on Friday afternoon, as the Manhattan College men's and women's cross country teams headed across the street to Van Cortlandt Park for the annual Metropolitan Championships. In their first meet after a three-week break, the Jaspers put forth a strong showing. Both squads placed fifth in the team standings.
“I'm very satisfied,” Head Coach Pat Slevin said. “We finished better than half the field in both the men's race and the women's race, and we ran together as a team. I'm very pleased that they looked for each other in the race and ran with each other.”
Mikael Rojeras (Sala, Sweden) continued his solid season, leading the men's team with a 15th-place finish. He finished the 8000-meter course in 26:47.16. Coming in just behind Rojeras was Lucas Bittigkoffer (Neulingen, Germany) in 22nd. Bittigkoffer's time was 26:59.09. Kevin O'Brien (Attleboro, Mass.) crossed the line 33rd in 27:55.13, while Anthony Colasurdo (Lanoka Harbor, N.J.) placed 37th in 28:09.44. Rounding out Manhattan's top seven were Salim Corbin (Patterson, N.J.) in 43rd place (28:25.32), Greg Perrier (Dix Hills, N.Y.) in 48th (28:53.94), and Connor Clarke (Milltown, N.J.) in 49th (28:58.02).
The Metropolitan Championships bring together the top teams from the New York/New Jersey area, with a total of 12 squads competing. NYU placed five runners in the top 10, finishing with 24 total points to secure the team title. The Jaspers collected 150 team points.
On the women's side, Alexandra Cappello (Scarsdale, N.Y.) paced Manhattan for the first time this season. Cappello recorded a 25th-place showing, completing 5000 meters in 19:40.80. Milena Stoicev (Nis, Serbia) came across 30th in 20:09.68, and Katie Saroka (Blue Point, N.Y.) finished 33rd in 20:09.68. Alyssa Windle (Redlands, Calif.), meanwhile, was 43rd in 20:44.21. Running in her first race in nearly two full years due to injuries, Meghan Hayes (Brooklyn, N.Y.) had a successful season debut. She was Manhattan's fifth scorer, placing 45th overall in a time of 20:44.71. Johanna Petruski (Toms River, N.J.) (54th, 21:15.02) and Elizabeth Rosenberger (Ramsey, N.J.) (56th, 21:24.27) completed the Jaspers' top seven.
Columbia had seven of the first 15 finishers to easily capture the women's team title. The Lions finished with 25 points. Manhattan registered a team score of 176.
The Metropolitan Championships mark the beginning of the annual “championship season.” Manhattan will return to Van Cortlandt Park later in the month for the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championships, and the Jaspers will also host the NCAA Northeast Regional Championships. First, however, Manhattan hits the road for next Saturday's UAlbany Invitational, which gets underway at 11 a.m.