Toes to the line, gun shot and the Hoyas were off to another title at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Cross Country Championship at Lehigh University.
The echoes of last year’s championship in the 10K race rang in the ears of a new squad. Yet for the men, the outcome was the same, while the women improved from 2004 with a third-place finish.
With the victory, the men’s team qualified for the 2005 NCAA Championship, while the women were granted an at-large bid to compete in the national meet.
The men’s performance was led by senior captain Fleet Hower, who captured first place to become the regional champion. Hower covered the 10-km course in 30:03.8.
“I stayed relaxed the whole time and with 2,000 meters to go I began to push the pace,” Hower said. “It’s a real confidence booster for me and the team that we have this great forward team momentum going into the national meet.”
Even more impressive was the fact that the men ran without junior star Matt Debole, who has been a top finisher all season long for the Hoyas.
“Matt’s foot was a bit sore so we decided we didn’t want to take any chance and keep him ready for the national meet,” Assistant Coach Pat Henner said. Debole is set to run at the national meet.
Fifth-year senior Charles Millioen followed closely, finishing in fourth place with a time of 30:10.4. Sophomore Dan Nunn finished 10th with a time of 30:42.9. Freshman Mike Krisch continued his impressive year with a 13th-place finish, and fifth-year senior Chris Esselborn finished 17th in his first race back from injury.
“I was really impressed with Chris’ race,” Henner said. “He’s been injured for most of the season and really only started running again a week ago, so for him to place 17th at regionals is great.”
The women accumulated 103 points to garner a third-place finish behind Princeton and Villanova, with 64 and 98 respectively.
The team’s performance was highlighted by sophomore Maggie Infeld, who turned in a fifth-place finish and clocked 20:43.4 on the 6-km race. Junior Elizabeth Maloy, nagged by injury, finished 15th with a time of 21:09.7.
“Even though Liz was dinged up a bit, Maggie had the best cross country race ever, Erin had the best cross country race ever and Joanna had the best cross country race ever,” Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Ron Helmer said. “They stepped up and did the job.”
“Out of 31 teams that compete at the NCAA, a lot of them are vulnerable,” Helmer added. “We have shot at beating a lot of those teams.”
The men’s team looks toward the 2005 NCAA Championships next Monday, Nov. 21, at Indiana State University.
“I believe we have a better team than last year,” Henner said. “I’ve got nine or 10 guys that I feel comfortable racing at the NCAA meet. We’ve got a lot more depth.”
Runners not competing at nationals will run Saturday at the IC4A/ECAC Championships at Van Cortland Park in the Bronx, N.Y.