Men's Results | Women's Results
RIVERDALE, N.Y. – The Manhattan College men's and women's cross country teams both finished fourth at the annual Metropolitan Championships on Friday afternoon at Van Cortlandt Park. It was the women's team's best showing at the meet since 2007, when the Jaspers also placed fourth. The men's team, meanwhile, had its best placing since taking fourth in 2004.
Competing in just her third collegiate cross country race, Keeley Hogan (Delmar, N.Y.) earned a fifth-place finish. She posted a time of 19:18.5 for 5000 meters to become the first Manhattan woman to place fifth or higher at Mets since Lindsay Southard was third in 2006.
It was a balanced team effort for the Jaspers, as the top seven women all finished within one minute of each other. Lisa Fajardo (Brooklyn, N.Y.) was 12th in 19:34.9, followed closely by Lorraine Brancale (Staten Island, N.Y.) in 14th (19:37.1). Alexa Roda (Staten Island, N.Y.) took 25th place in 19:55.5, while Sam Hoagland (Colts Neck, N.Y.) and Kaitlyn Smith (Effort, Pa.) crossed the line at virtually the same time. Hoagland finished 30th in 20:13.0, with Smith just 0.8 seconds back in 31st. Gianna Tinto (Kings Park, N.Y.) rounded out Manhattan's top seven with a 33rd-place showing (20:18.9).
Manhattan collected 86 points in the team standings, just three behind third-place Columbia. Rutgers captured the team title with 61 points.
On the men's side, Shane Beyer (Brick, N.J.) led the Jaspers with a 14th-place finish. He completed the 8000-meter course in 27:08.4. Amir Khaghani (Bethesda, Md.) finished 17th in 27:16.6, followed by Tom Diliberto (Massapequa Park, N.Y.) in 18th (27:18.2). Nick Matson's (Clifton Park, N.Y.) time of 27:35.1 was good for 23rd place, while Chris Orlando (Newburyport, Mass.) grabbed 35th with a 27:50.9 clocking. Christian McLaughlin (Allenhurst, N.J.) (40th, 27:59.0) and Steven Forte (Bellemore, N.Y.) (42nd, 28:07.4) completed Manhattan's top seven.
With 105 points, the Jaspers just edged Columbia (109) for fourth place in the team standings. Fordham won the men's team title with 27 points.
Next Saturday, Manhattan will be in action at the UAlbany Invitational for its final competition before the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championships.