Strong Performances At The America East Championship For The Seawolves; Men’s XC Wins Title As Women’s XC Take Second Place

– Stony Brook Athletics

Kingsville, MD – The Stony Brook men’s and women’s cross country teams both had very strong performances at the America East Championship at Jerusalem Mills Park. The men won the America East Championship title by one point over Maine. The women came up two points short taking second to New Hampshire.
Freshman Cameron Avery (Christchurch, New Zealand) lead the way for the men coming in third with junior Danny Connelly (Mount Sinai, N.Y.), junior Nick Cruz (Washingtonville, N.Y.), and freshman Chris Biondi (Pine Bush, N.Y.) rounding out the top ten.  The women were lead by senior Christina Melian(Staten Island, N.Y.), senior Christine Eisenberg (Hauppauge, N.Y.), and sophomore Annika Sisson(Pittsburg, Pa.) who all finished in the top five.

Cameron Avery and Christina Melian earned huge honors for their performances. Avery earned Most Outstanding Rookie for his third place finish. Melian earned the Elite 17 award for her second place finish.  Coach Ronan and staff also won America East Men’s Coaching staff of the Year.

“Both teams performed brilliantly today against quality competition and on a challenging course. All the guys competed well. They really fought hard over the last mile of the race to sneak by a very good Maine team,” said head coach Andy Ronan.

“The women’s team competed as well as the men but just came up a little short in the end. They beat a good UMass Lowell team but were beaten by a very good New Hampshire group,” continued Ronan.

“I am proud of all the student athletes, male and female, that competed for Stony Brook today,” said Ronan.

Highlights:

  • The men’s team won the title with a score of 45 points followed by Maine scoring 46, Albany scoring 87, New Hampshire scoring 100, Vermont scoring 114, UMass Lowell scoring 139, Binghamton scoring 189, UMBC scoring 194, and Hartford scoring 271.
  • The Seawolves’ men had four top ten performers and three more in the top 25.
  • Cameron Avery lead the way for the Seawolves placing third with a time of 24:48.2,
  • Daniel Connelly placed 6th with a time of 25:01.4, Nick Cruz placed ninth with a time of 25:06.3, and Chris Biondi came in 10th with a time of 25:10.4
  • Sophomore Bryce Headman (Ledyad, Conn.) 17th (25:12.2), freshman Kyle Kelly (West Islip, N.Y.) 20th (25:29.8), and sophomore Kevin Vinolas (Middleteon, N.Y.) 25th (25:43.8) rounded out the top 25.
  • Avery and Connelly earned First Team All-Conference.
  • Cruz and Biondi earned Second Team All-Conference.
  • The women’s team took second scoring 47 points. New Hampshire took first with 45, UMass Lowell totaled 67, Vermont totaled 89, UMBC totaled 105, Albany totaled 183, Binghamton totaled 195, Maine totaled 230, and Hartford totaled 242.
  • The Seawolves’ women had three top five finishers and added two more in the top 25.
  • Christina Melian, Christine Eisenberg, and Annika Sisson lead the way for the Seawolves finishing second, third, and forth.
  • Melian finished with a time of 17:01.2. Eisenberg finished at 17:15.0 and Sisson came in at 17:16.2
  • Senior Elizabeth Caldwell placed 14th with a time of 17:59.0 and sophomore Alexandria Ortega(Amherst, N.Y.) placed 24th with a time of 18:12.6
  • Melian, Eisenberg, and Sisson all earned First team All-Conference and Caldwell earned Seond team All-Conference.
  • Melian was awarded the women’s Elite 17 Award.
  • Cameron Avery was award Most Outstanding Rookie for the men.
  • Coach Ronan and staff received men’s Coaching Staff of the Year.

Up Next:
The Seawolves will head to the NCAA Regional Championships in Bronx, New York on November 11th.


Photo: Stony Brook Athletics

NewsHerald Business Focus: Need a way to improve your business and cash flow? Visit here and learn more about programs that can save you money.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *