MADISON, Conn. - Berths in the NCAA Championships were on the line for the Manhattan College men's and women's cross country teams at the NCAA Northeast Regional Championships on Friday afternoon at Hammonasset Beach State Park. Going against the top teams from New York and New England, the Jasper men finished 33rd overall. The Manhattan women, meanwhile, secured 35th place in the team standings.
After running mostly 8,000 meters during the regular season, the men race over a 10,000-meter distance at the NCAA Regional meet. Tom Voorheis (Syracuse, N.Y.) was Manhattan's top finisher. He grabbed 176th place in a time of 33:44.5. Kevin D'Emic (Rockaway Point, N.Y.) finished 193rd in 34:08.4, and Nathan Kotch (Tappan, N.Y.) placed 196th in a time of 34:17.3. Mikael Rojeras (Sala, Sweden) (199th, 34:23.5) and Jacob Adams (Yonkers, N.Y.) (202nd, 34:35.6) completed Manhattan's top five, while Greg Perrier (Dix Hills, N.Y.) (215th, 35:17.6) and Stephen Chantry (Williamsburg, Va.) (220th, 35:25.6) rounded out the finishers for the Jaspers.
Iona's Mitch Goose, who was individual champion at the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championships two weeks ago, won the men's race in a time of 30:04.5. The Gaels, who are ranked fourth nationally as a team, finished first overall with 45 points. They will be joined at the NCAA Championships by a Columbia squad that edged Syracuse 72-73 for the second automatic berth. Manhattan finished with 966 team points.
On the women's side, Manhattan was led by Rachel Lottermann (Washington Township, N.J.). She completed the 6000-meter course in a personal-best time of 23:28.0, which was good enough for 193rd place. Alyssa Windle (Redlands, Calif.) finished 205th in 23:46.5, which was her personal-best, followed by Elizabeth Rosenberger (Ramsey, N.J.) in 209th place (23:53.2). Alexandra Cappello (Scarsdale, N.Y.) (24:03.7) and Johanna Petruski (Toms River, N.J.) (24:06.3) placed 218th and 219th, while Emmy Koskinen (Sodertalje, Sweden) took 241st place in a time of 24:54.4.
Dartmouth's Abbey D'Agostino was the individual champion. Her winning time of 19:51.1 was more than four seconds faster than the second-place finisher. Providence (46) and Connecticut (67) were the two teams that qualified for the NCAA Championships. Manhattan's team score was 1044.
Manhattan concludes the season at the ECAC/IC4A Championships next Saturday at Van Cortlandt Park. The women's ECAC race gets underway at 11:45 a.m., followed by the men's IC4A race at 12:15 p.m.