Nov. 15, 2003

BOSTON The Marist College men's cross country team placed 17th out of 39 teams at the NCAA Northeast Regional Championship, held Saturday at a sunny and windy Franklin Park. The finish is the second-highest team placement in school history. The Red Foxes finished 15th at the regionals in 1998, 2000 and 2002.

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) champion and nationally-ranked Iona was the overall winner with 58 points. Marist, the 2003 MAAC runner-up, placed 17th with a total of 442 points.

Senior captain Kirk Dornton (Syracuse, NY) led the way for Marist, placing 65th out of 237 finishers in the race in 32:03 on the 10,000-meter course. Junior Geoff Decker (Delmar, NY) followed closely in 70th place in 32:07. Freshman Mark Fernandez (Commack, NY) was next, placing 102nd in 32:49, followed by junior Steve Hicks (Red Hook, NY), 107th in 32:57 and sophomore Justin Harris (Wappingers Falls, NY), 113th in 33:04.

The Red Foxes conclude their season on Saturday, November 22, at the IC4A Championships at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx.

Team standings: 1. Iona 58, 2. Providence 73, 3. Brown 94, 4. Yale 149, 5. Columbia 173, 6. Dartmouth 182, 7. New Hampshire 220, 8. Harvard 260, 9. Boston College 267, 10. Quinnipiac 286, 11. Army 307, 12. Connecticut 313, 13. Colgate 325, 14. Albany 351, 15. Cornell 399, 16. Boston University 404, 17. Marist 442, 18. Syracuse 461, 19. Maine 494, 20. Buffalo 523, 21. Manhattan 551, 22. Massachusetts 617, 23. Fordham 618, 24. Holy Cross 654, 25. Sacred Heart 703, 26. Binghamton 796, 27. Hofstra 844, 28. Vermont 855, 29. Long Island 895, 30. Fairfield 940, 31. Wagner 983, 32. Siena 1001, 33. Niagara 1044; Stony Brook, Canisius, St. Bonaventure, St. Francis, Northeastern, Harvard, INC

10000 meter course Overall winner: Richard Kiplagat (Iona) 29:50

Marist finishers

65. Kirk Dornton 32:03 70. Geoff Decker 32:07 102. Mark Fernandez 32:49 107. Steve Hicks 32:57 113. Justin Harris 33:04 121. Sean Hopkins 33:16 135. Sean Prinz 33:31