Geneseo’s cross country teams celebrate top five finishes in DIII championships
The SUNY Geneseo Men’s and Women’s Cross Country teams raced to a strong finish at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Championships on Saturday, Nov. 19. The men’s team finished third at the meet while the women’s team also came out strong and was able to finish in fifth place. Each team had members collect All-American honors in the showing which took place in East Lansing, Michigan.
This was the second year in a row that the men’s team finished with a third-place spot at the DIII Championships, tying their best finish since 2016 in which they were the runners-up. The Knights ended their day with a total of 168 points, behind only the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Engineers who had 82 points and the Wartburg Knights with 129 points.
Senior Nick Andrews was able to finish in sixth place at the meet with a time of 24:59.8, leading the men’s team. Fellow senior Ezra Ruggles came in 33rd with a time of 25:33.4 just before junior Alex Hillyard who crossed in 39th place with a time of 25:36.4. Andrews, Ruggles, and Hillyard took home All-American honors after their strong performances for the Knights.
Juniors Dillon McClary and William Hall, graduate student Ben Timmons, and senior Ryan Mitchell rounded out the Knights in the top-200 finishes. McClary came in 49th place with a time of 25:43.2, and Hall crossed in 74th place at 25:56.9. Timmons ended in 129th at 26:14.1 with Mitchell finishing in seventh for the Knights in 195th overall with a time of 26:37.2.
The women’s team ended their day in fifth place, behind Johns Hopkins University, the University of Chicago, Wartburg College, and Carleton University. The strong fifth place finish for the women’s team fell just short of last year’s third place performance, but individual achievements were the highlight of the day for the Knights.
Seniors Windsor Ardner and Kathleen McCarey were each awarded their second consecutive All-American Honors after they both finished in the top ten at the DIII Championships. Ardner crossed first for the Knights for an eighth-place finish with a time of 22:10.6, while McCarey followed closely behind in tenth place (22:12.2). Senior Erin Eivers was able to finish in the top-50 crossing in 44th place with a time of 22:47.5, before sophomore Lilly Fowler-Conner and freshman Sierra Doody cracked the top-100 and came in 91st (23:23.1) and 93rd (23:31.5) overall, respectively. Seniors Marcie Hogan and Rachel Hirschkind rounded out the Knight’s top seven finishers crossing in 109th (23:31.5) and 111th (23:32.6) at the meet.
Both teams concluded their seasons with strong individual and team performances and will look to complete another strong campaign come 2023.