Nov. 22, 2009

PHILADELPHIA - The La Salle cross country program closed out the 2009 season on Saturday at the ECAC and IC4A Championships in New York City's Van Cortlandt Park. Sean Ward led the Explorer men, while Caitlin Storbeck led on the women's side.

Ward's fifth place individual finish out of 123 runners helped lead the men's squad to fourth place in the team standings. Ward clocked a 25:31.0 in the 8K race and was just nine seconds off of the winning time in the very close race.

Ray Coles was the second Explorer as he finished 24th with a time of 26:08.9, and Joe Beveridge rounded out the top three with a 26:13.7 for 29th.

Also in the race were Alfredo Santana (26:15.1; 31st), James Mauro (26:29.1; 41st), Nick Crits (26:30.8; 43rd), Tom Pannulla (26:48.7; 64th), Andrew Mahoney (26:56.4; 72nd), Kevin Buell (26:57.0; 74th), Rollin Deas (27:09.9; 85th), Sean Mallon (27:14.3; 87th), and Kasey Gellar (27:26.3; 95th).

The men's fourth place team finish was tops among competing Atlantic 10 schools, which included Massachusetts, conference champion Saint Joseph's, and Duquesne. Duke won, with William & Mary and George Mason rounding out the top three. George Mason's Everett Hackett captured the individual title with a 25:22.3.

The Explorer women were led by Storbeck's 28th place individual finish out of 108 runners. Storbeck completed the 5K course in 18:05.1. Samantha Gallagher came in eight seconds later as she clocked an 18:13.8 for 31st place.

Meghan Lutz was the third Explorer to cross the finish line as she ran a time of 18:48.7 for 63rd. Rounding out the top five were Kellilyn Fierras (18:49.6; 65th) and Colleen Boland (18:52.2; 68th).

The women finished 11th out of 12 in the team standings. Boston College captured the team title, while Stony Brook sisters and All-Americans Lucy and Holly Van Dalen went 1-2.

Saturday's championships also included men's and women's JV races. The Explorers placed six runners in the top 10 - including all four top spots - of the Men's 8K Coaches Race. Mark Del Monaco won the race with a time of 27:42.7. Matt Mitchell was second with a 27:47.4, while Colin Barrett (27:49.4) and Mike Roethel (27:53.9) captured third and fourth individually out of 41 runners.

Also in the top 10 were Terence McPeak (27:58.4; 7th) and Breandan Lyman (28:03.5; 9th).

The Explorer women placed four runners in the top 10 of the Women's 5K Coaches Race, led by Kathleen Boland's second place finish. Boland clocked a 19:42.8. Also in the top 10 were Alyssa Mullen (19:55.2; 5th), Pam Alva (20:14.0; 8th) and Nicole Schiavone (20:14.8; 9th).

The Explorer runners have concluded the cross country season, but will kick off the indoor track season on Saturday, Dec. 5th, at Haverford College's Jack Pyrah Invitational.