HOLMDEL, N.J. - The Marist men's cross country team placed second out of eight Division I teams Saturday at the 20th annual Monmouth University Invitational, held at Holmdel Park. In a meet loaded with Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference schools, the Red Foxes trailed only the host Hawks (28 points). The second-place total of 66 was enough to outdistance MAAC rivals Siena (98), Rider (100), Quinnipiac (116), Fairfield (125) and Manhattan (200).
Senior captain Ken Walshak (Babylon, N.Y.) led the way with a fifth-place finish. He covered the hilly and challenging 5-mile course in 26:34.5. Junior John Lee (Wading River, N.Y.) was close behind, placing sixth in 26:45.7. A tight pack of Running Red Foxes followed across the line led by freshman Steven Morrison (Poughquag, N.Y.) (12th in 27:04.9). Freshman Steven Rizzo (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) was 20th in 27:20.8 and sophomore Saad Baig (Staten Island, N.Y.) was 23rd in 27:24.6 to complete the scoring. Marist's spread from 1-5 runners was 50 seconds and from 1-10 runners was 1:14.
"That depth served us well today, but we must continue to make improvements in our pack in order to reach our full potential for the season,'' head coach Pete Colaizzo said. "It was good to get on the Holmdel course in advance of the MAAC meet. It was worth the trip down there."
The cross country team returns to action Oct. 4 at the Paul Short Run at Lehigh University.
Monmouth Invitational
Holmdel Park, Holmdel, NJ
Saturday, September 20, 2014
Men's team standings
1-Monmouth 28, 2-Marist 66, 3-Siena 98, 4-Rider 100, 5-Quinnipiac 116, 6-Fairfield 125, 7-Manhattan 200, 8-Rutgers 216
Men's individual results, 5-mile course
5. Ken Walshak 26:34.5
6. John Lee 26:45.7
12. Steven Morrison 27:04.9
20. Steven Rizzo 27:20.8
23. Saad Baig 27:24.6
25. Mark Valentino 27:26.9
27. Patrick Rynkowski 27:28.1
29. Patrick Hickey 27:33.8
31. Ryan Colabella 27:37.1
37. Spencer Johnson 27:48.2
51. Joseph Miller 28:03.7
57. Bryan Buttigieg 28:13.2
59. Charles Ropes 28:21.7
66. Omar Perez 28:30.0
67. Stefan Morton 28:33.6
70. Brian Edsall 28:37.0
73. Mark Vuono 28:41.5
94. Eddie White 29:09.1
118. Jake Hensler 30:07.3
120. Richard Willi 30:11.7
128. James Ball 30:36.0
