Sept. 25, 2004
NEW YORK - The Marist College men's cross country team placed ninth out of 15 teams Saturday at the Iona College Meet of Champions, held at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx. The ninth-place was the best Marist finish in school history at the meet; the previous best was 12th place in 1999.
The Red Foxes finished with 227 points, trailing eighth-place Marquette by three points and edging out 10th-place New Hampshire by two points. Marquette was ranked 12th in the Great Lakes Region in the preseason U.S. Cross Country Coaches Association poll. New Hampshire was ranked eighth in the Northeast Region in the USCCCA preseason poll.
Senior Steve Hicks (Red Hook, NY) led the Marist scoring pack with a 42nd-place finish and a personal-best Van Cortlandt time of 26:18.0. Senior captain Geoff Decker (Delmar, NY) followed closely behind, finishing 44th in 26:21.3. Junior Justin Harris (Wappingers Falls, NY) was 48th in a Van Cortlandt best time of 26:29.1. It was the first time in four years that three Marist runners cracked the 26:30 barrier at Van Cortlandt in the same meet.
Rounding out the scoring pack were sophomore Mark Fernandez (Commack, NY), who was 63rd in 26:45.1; freshman Brandon Cartica (Pleasant Valley, NY), 95th in 27:15.5 in his first-ever Van Cortlandt race; senior captain Sean Hopkins (Brookhaven Hamlet, NY), 102nd in 27:23.8; junior Sean Prinz (Wantagh, NY), 109th in 27:32.2.
Nationally-ranked Iona College, the defending Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champions, won the meet with 35 points. Cornell, Navy, Wake Forest and Boston College rounded out the top-five teams.
The Running Red Foxes return to Van Cortlandt Park on Friday, October 1 for the Metropolitan Championships.
Iona College Meet of Champions
Course: Traditional 5-mile Van Cortlandt Park
Weather: Sunny and warm
Team standings: 1. Iona 35, 2. Cornell 59, 3. Navy 98, 4. Wake Forest 101, 5. Boston College 154, 6. Harvard 193, 7. Bucknell 208, 8. Marquette 224, 9. Marist 227, 10. New Hampshire 229, 11 (tie). Messiah and Boston University 331, 13. New Haven 366, 14-15. Molloy and U Mass Lowell, INC
Marist finishers
42. Steve Hicks 26:18.0
44. Geoff Decker 26:21.3
48. Justin Harris 26:29.1
63. Mark Fernandez 26:45.1
95. Brandon Cartica 27:15.5
102. Sean Hopkins 27:23.8
109. Sean Prinz 27:32.2
114. Ted Marak 27:35.5
115. Mike Schab 27:36.3
120. Bryan Quinn 27:48.0
126. Mike Bamberger 28:00.1
134. Chris Baum 28:09.1
142. Jeff Belge 28:19.6
147. Matt Syzmaszek 28:25.0
154. Will Colucci 28:45.8
156. Mike Rolek 28:51.0
161. Mike Guarascio 29:14.3
163. Tom Dixon 29:20.7
165. Matt Walsh 29:23.4
166. Joe Raucci 29:31.0
169. Mike Schaffer 29:45.2
170. Scott LaPiedra 29:48.9
175. Matt Maynes 30:16.8
176. Bryan Dixon 30:46.7
180. John Balsamo 31:40.6
185. Pat Taylor 34:40.2
