Manhattan Competes Well at Iona Meet of Champions

RIVERDALE, N.Y. – On a beautiful, overcast morning at Van Cortlandt Park, the Manhattan College men's and women's cross country teams competed in the annual Iona Meet of Champions on Saturday.  Going against a field that included several nationally- and regionally-ranked foes, the Jaspers put forth a solid showing.  The Manhattan women placed 16^th as a team, while the men's squad finished 18^th overall.

Manhattan's top three finishers on the women's side came across the line virtually together.  Milena Stoicev (Nis, Serbia) completed the 6100-meter course in 24:59.87, which was good for 77^th place.  Alexandra Cappello (Scarsdale, N.Y.) was credited with 78^th place after finishing in 25:03.62, while Katie Saroka (Blue Point, N.Y.) finished 81^st in 25:07.75.  Alyssa Windle (Redlands, Calif.) posted a time of 25:57.85 to place 100^th, and Janie Turek (Mt. Sinai, N.Y.) took 105^th with a 26:15.10 clocking.  Rounding out the Jaspers' top seven finishers were Christina Sakowski (Cicero, N.Y.) in 110^th place (26:28.40) and Elizabeth Rosenberger (Ramsey, N.J.) in 112^th (26:31.73).

As a team, the Jaspers collected 441 points.  In a surprise, Albany upset Iona, the sixth-ranked team in the Northeast, 67-100 for the women's team title.

The women ran under incredibly humid conditions, and it drizzled slightly for a few minutes prior to and during the start of the men's race.  However, the sun soon returned, creating similar conditions for the men.

Mikael Rojeras (Sala, Sweden) once again led the Jasper men on Saturday.  He placed 51^st overall, running 8000 meters in 26:47.60.  Lucas Bittigkoffer (Neulingen, Germany) made his Manhattan debut and finished 89^th overall, posting a time of 27:35.33.  Shane Beyer (Brick, N.J.) was the next Jasper across the line, finishing 109^th in 27:59.56.  Anthony Colasurdo (Lanoka Harbor, N.J.) (117^th, 28:19.16), Kevin O'Brien (Attleboro, Mass.) (120^th, 28:23.35), Stephen Chantry (Williamsburg, Va.) (123^rd, 28:32.02) and Greg Perrier (Dix Hills, N.Y.) (126^th, 28:45.52) completed Manhattan's seven scorers.

The Jaspers earned 486 points in the team standings.  Iona, which entered the meet ranked No. 2 in the Northeast and No. 13 nationally, finished with 35 points to easily win the team title.