Oct. 6, 2006

NEW YORK, N.Y. - The Marist College men's cross country team enjoyed a historic day at the Metropolitan Championships Friday at a breezy and overcast Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, with a program-best, second-place finish and a school-record performance from the top-5 runners on the famed VCP 5-mile course.

The Red Foxes were runners-up to meet champion Columbia. Columbia won with 48 points and Marist was second with 83 points, the best point total at a Mets championship in school history. The team edged NYU, which was third with 87 points. Fordham (123) and Southern Connecticut (140) rounded out the top 5 in the 13-team meet.

Sophomore Girma Segni (Bronx, NY) was second overall out of 165 finishers with a personal-best time of 25:15.5. The time places Segni second on the Marist all-time VCP list, trailing only school-record holder Mike Melfi (Class of 1999), who ran 25:11 on the course in 1998. Segni trailed meet champion Samuel Chelanga of FDU, who won in 25:09.9.

Segni led the record-setting pack of Red Foxes. Fellow sophomore David Raucci (Clermont, NY) was fifth overall in a personal-best VCP time of 25:45.2. Freshman Conor Shelley (Rockville Centre, NY) was 12th in 25:54.4, making him the fourth fastest freshman in school history in his first collegiate race on the course. Senior captain Justin Harris (Wappingers Falls, NY) was 33rd in 26:34.3. Freshman Mike Cator (Ridgewood, NJ) rounded out the scoring pack with a 41st-place finish in 26:43.5.

The Red Foxes' top-five combined time of 2:10:12.9 eclipsed the previous combined school time of 2:10:53.5, set at the 2000 ICAAAA Championships. The new school-record time averaged out to 26:02.58 per man, bettering the previous mark of 26:10.7 per man from the 2000 ICAAAA champions.

The Red Foxes' scoring pack proved to be deep as well, as nine men eclipsed the 27:00 barrier on the same day - another program best. Junior Mike Rolek (Maplewood, NJ) was right behind Cator (44th in 26:43.5), followed by junior Tom Williams (Pleasant Valley, NY), 26:52.2; senior captain Matt Szymaszek (Simsbury, CT), 26:56.2; sophomore John Keenan (Centereach, NY), 26:56.8.

Friday's solid team showing was slightly better than the Red Foxes' run at Mets in 2003. The previous best finish for a Marist men's team at Mets was also second place, on Oct. 3, 2003, when the team scored 101 points and trailed meet champion Iona, which won that day with 22 points.

The men's cross country team returns to action on Tuesday, Oct. 17, at the Manhattan/Iona Mini-Meet at Van Cortlandt Park, followed by the MAAC Championships on Friday, Oct. 27.

Team standings:
1. Columbia 48
2. Marist 83
3. NYU 87
4. Fordham 123
5. Southern Connecticut 140
6. Rutgers 157
7. Manhattan 207
8. CW Post 221
9. Seton Hall 240
10. FDU 277
11. Wagner 282
12. St. Francis NY 319
13. Stony Brook 376

Marist Results
2. Girma Segni 25:15.5
8. David Raucci 25:45.2
12. Conor Shelley 25:54.4
33. Justin Harris 26:34.3
41. Mike Cator 26:43.5
44. Mike Rolek 26:45.8
47. Tom Williams 26:52.2
50. Matt Szymaszek 26:56.2
51. John Keenan 26:56.8
77. Rob Fleming 27:35.2
81. Mike Bamberger 27:45.1
82. Omar Sow 27:47.1
89. Alex Emerel 27:55.8
90. Tom Dixon 27:57.3
95. Brandon Cartica 28:07.0
96. Jeff Belge 28:07.4
97. Matt Jancyzk 28:07.7
98. James Hayden 28:08.4
99. Greg Masto 28:10.2
105. Kris Geist 28:15.8
108. Bryan Quinn 28:21.1
115. Chris Locke 28:39.0
129. Joe Tarantello 29:07.1
138. Bryan Dixon 29:31.9
144. Mark Fernandez 29:57.4
146. DJ Paulson 30:04.0
148. Joe Raucci 30:16.0
149. Theo Marak 30:19.2
164. Chris Baum 33:35.3