University of Albany's Cross Country Teams Post Highest Finishes Ever at IC4A and ECAC Championships - UAlbany Sports 2009

Bronx, N.Y. - Led by freshman All-East selections Alex Leuchanka and Miranda McConnell, the UAlbany cross country teams posted second-place finishes in the University Division races at the IC4A and ECAC championships on Saturday, Nov. 21 at Van Cortlandt Park. Temple and Marist won the men's and women's team titles, respectively.

The UAlbany men's second-place finish was its highest ever at the meet, while the women's runner-up performance, its third overall, matched its best ever. In addition, the average time of the top five finishers for both the men (26:36.38) and the women (18:49.24) were school records at Van Cortlandt Park. Sophomore Ada Lauterbach and junior Jenn Pierson joined Leuchanka and McConnell as All-East picks.

The men's top five finishers were all freshmen and redshirt freshmen. Leuchanka navigated the 8,000-meter course in 26:07.3 to place ninth among 204 runners, while a pack of Great Danes that finished within five seconds of each other rounded out the team's top five. Ethan Clary was 29th in 26:40.8, while Sean Halpin crossed the tape 30th in 26:44.7. Paul Lagno turned in a 31st-place performance for circling the course in 26:44.7, and Craig Weiss was 32nd overall with a time of 26:45.5.

Four of the top five finishers for the women were underclassmen, while the three All-East honorees set a new program standard. McConnell finished first on the squad for completing the 5,000-meter circuit in 18:27.5, which placed her 11th among 192 competitors. Lauterbach finished 13th overall in 18:30.2, and was directly followed by Pierson, who posted a mark of 18:36.2. Freshmen Brianna Service (25th, 18:56.4) and Melissa Del Rosario (59th, 19:35.9) completed the team's top five.

"Both squads had great days," said head coach Craig McVey, who mentored the youngest teams in the America East Conference this season. "This was a great springboard to next fall. Our women and our men know where we can go from here. They also understand that it will be a daily undertaking, and they are ready to embrace what (we are looking to accomplish moving forward)."


IC4A Championship Team Standings (University Division)
1. Temple 70; 2. UAlbany 131; 3. New Hampshire 147; 4. Army 167; 5. Pittsburgh 169; 6. Rutgers 197; 7. Binghamton 198; 8. Rider 218; 9. Central Connecticut 258; 10. Colgate 274; 11. NJIT 281; 12. Fordham 285; 13. Manhattan 289; 14. Fairfield 363; 15. Sacred Heart 372; 16. Mansfield 382; 17. Loyola 420; 18. Monmouth 428; 19. Holy Cross 442; 20. Hofstra 631; 21. Siena 637; 22. St. Francis, N.Y.; 23. Seton Hall 680; 24. Dowling 781.

Individual Champion: Christian Baumbach, NJIT, 25:36.8.
UAlbany Finishers: 9. Alex Leuchanka 26:07.3; 29. Ethan Clary 26:40.8; 30. Sean Halpin 26:43.6; 31. Paul Lagno 26:44.7; 32. Craig Weiss 26:45.5; 36. Chris Manico 26:51.1; 46. David Rothman 27:07.2; 55. John Moore 27:19.1; 69. Cory Greczyn 27:31.1; 80. Ian Ellis 27:37.2; 86. Ryan Florkiewicz 27:41.6.

ECAC Championship Team Standings (University Division)
1. Marist 85; 2. UAlbany 119; 3. Towson 137; 4. Binghamton 147; 5. Sacred Heart 188; 6. New Hampshire 199; 7. Loyola 206; 8. Rider 208; 9. Monmouth 217; 10. Fordham 233; 11. George Mason 297; T-12. Mansfield 342; T-12. Holy Cross 342; 14. Seton Hall 378; 15. Fairfield 384; 16. Colgate 389; 17. VCU 408; 18. St. John's 411; 19. Hofstra 512; 20. Siena 543.

Individual Champion: Brence Edwards, Mansfield, 17:25.0.
UAlbany Finishers: 11. Miranda McConnell 18:27.5; 13. Ada Lauterbach 18:30.2; 14. Jenn Pierson 18:36.2; 25. Brianna Service 18:56.4; 59. Melissa Del Rosario 19:35.9; 68. Maureen Nweke 19:45.5; 98. Ally Panos 20:04.4; 145. Zuliana Fontanez 21:02.1; 164. Roxanne Wegman 21:28.5.

Courtesy: UAlbany Sports Information

Yurkewecz and Panos Lead UAlbany Great Dane Harriers at IC4A and ECAC Championships

Courtesy: UAlbany Sports Information

Bronx, N.Y. – Brian Yurkewecz placed 10th overall to garner All-East laurels and Ally Panos placed 62nd to lead the University at Albany men’s and women’s cross country teams in the University Division races of the IC4A and ECAC Championships at Van Cortlandt Park on Saturday afternoon.

The men’s squad placed fourth among 26 scoring teams, while the women did not accumulate a team score. New Hampshire and Columbia won the men’s and women’s team titles, respectively.

Yurkewecz closed out his cross country career by earning All-East honors for the first time after finishing in the top 15 in the field of 235 runners. He navigated the 5-mile course in 26:00. R.J. Sniffen (Shaker) finished 20th overall and second on the team in 26:15. Rounding out the top five finishers for the Great Danes were freshman Ian Ellis (66th, 27:02), Jack Kelley (67th, 27:03) and Shaker’s Chris Manico (70th, 27:05).

“This was probably the toughest race in the history of the University Division at IC4A’s,” said head coach Craig McVey. “I couldn’t be more pleased with our effort, especially under the circumstances with the wind chill around 22 degrees and gusts reaching 25 miles per hour. Some of the teams we beat were well ranked, including Binghamton. It was a nice way for us to finish our season.”

Panos circled the 5,000-meter women’s course in 19:58 to pace the Great Dane women. She was followed by Laine Sefick, who was 78th overall in 20:10. Kristin Grab finished 108th in the field of 225 runners with a time of 20:27 to round out all finishers for UAlbany.

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IC4A Men’s Team Results (University Division)

1. New Hampshire, 107 points; 2. Pittsburgh, 137 points; 3. Rutgers, 195 points; 4. UAlbany, 230 points; 5. Army, 232 points; 6. Fordham, 234 points; 7. Loyola, 237 points; 8. Manhattan, 238 points; 9. Sacred Heart, 241 points; 10. Binghamton, 255 points; 11. Bucknell, 276 points; 12. Temple, 282 points; 13. Colgate, 283 points; 14. Monmouth, 287 points; 15. Seton Hall, 356 points; 16. Wagner, 366 points; 17. Hofstra, 448 points; 18. Adelphi, 450 points; 19. Rider, 466 points; 20. Saint Francis, 477 points; 21. New Jersey Tech, 510 points; 22. Longwood, 568 points; 23. Fairfield, 596 points; 24. Philadelphia, 623 points; 25. Siena, 676 points; 26. Mercy, 848 points.

Individual Champion: Nicholas Descrescen, New Hampshire, 25:31.

UAlbany Finishers: 10. Brian Yurkewecz, 26:00; 20. R.J. Sniffen, 26:15; 66. Ian Ellis, 27:02; 67. Jack Kelley, 27:03; 70. Chris Manico, 27:05; 116. Jimmy Carroll, 27:48; 125. David Rothman, 27:57; 139. Paul LaRocca, 28:09; 150. Jon Juleus, 28:18; 196. Justin LaLiberté, 29:22.



ECAC Women’s Team Results (University Division)

1. Columbia, 107 points; 2. Sacred Heart, 118 points; 3. Army, 120 points; T-4. Binghamton, 137 points; T-4. Marist, 137 points; 6. Towson, 164 points; 7. Bucknell, 214 points; 8. Fordham, 248 points; 9. Rider, 255 points; 10. St. John’s, 263 points; 11. Holy Cross, 265 points; 12. Colgate, 294 points; 13. New Hampshire, 307; 14. Loyola, 321 points; 15. Monmouth, 416 points; 16. Manhattan, 473 points; 17. Fairfield, 500 points; 18. Wagner, 512 points; 19. Siena, 544 points; 20. Philadelphia, 559 points; 21. Temple, 611 points; 22. Seton Hall, 627 points; 23. Longwood, 643 points.

Individual: Elizabeth Campbell, New Hampshire, 18:29.

UAlbany Finishers: 62. Ally Panos, 19:58; 78. Laine Sefick, 20:10; 108. Kristin Grab, 20:27.

Ricardo Estremera Wins IC4A University Championship, Laura Cummings Places Seventh in ECAC Race

Courtesy: UAlbany Sports Information

Bronx, N.Y. – UAlbany’s Ricardo Estremera won the IC4A University Division Championship to lead the Great Danes to an 11th place finish at the 99th IC4A Cross Country Championships on Saturday, Nov. 17 at Van Cortland Park in Bronx, N.Y. Junior Laura Cummings placed seventh in the University Division to lead the women’s team to a ninth place finish in the 23rd ECAC Cross Country Championships.

Estremera, the second Great Dane harrier in the last four years to win the championship, covered the five mile course in a time of 25:35 to win the race by 10 seconds, to receive his third All-East honor. Junior Brian Yurkewecz placed 16th for the Great Danes in a time of 26:39. Sophomore John Moore finished 67th in 27:37, senior Chris Jimenez placed 95th in 28:20, and freshman David Rothman crossed the finish line in 28:24 to place 99th to round out the top-5 runners for UAlbany. America East champion New Hampshire won the men’s team competition with a total score of 62.

In the women’s race, Cummings completed the 5K run in 18:42 to receive All-East recognition. Freshman Kristine Mun placed 30th in 19:27 for UAlbany. Senior Jessica Chichester placed 43rd in 19:46, senior Danielle Trimpop finished in 20:50 for 99th place, and junior Tashia Alexander crossed the finish line in 21:01 to come in 108th to round out the top-5 harriers for the Great Danes. The women’s team competition was won by New Hampshire with a final total of 68. Colgate’s Elizabeth Kennedy won the women’s race in a time of 18:14.

Men’s Championship (5 miles)

Team Scores:
1. New Hampshire (62), 2. U.S. Military Academy (67), 3. Binghamton U. (151), 4. Bucknell (178), 5. Manhattan (197), 6. Hofstra (222), 7. Fordham (231), 8. Loyola (251), 9. Monmouth (258), 10. Mansfield (265).

Individual:
1. Ricardo Estremera (UAlbany), 25:35, 2. Jon Anderson (Army), 25:45, 3. Tobias Lundgren (Manhattan), 25:53, 4. Brent Powers (New Hampshire), 25:54, 5. Josh Wooten (Mansfield), 25:58, 6. Pawel Kornaszewski (Seton Hall) 26:13, 7. Matt Lowenthal (Fordham), 26:14, 8. Wesley Dinnan (New Hampshire), 26:21, 9. Joshua Kearns (New Hampshire), 26:23, 10. Christopher Heibel (Loyola (Md.)), 26:23.

UAlbany Finishers: 16. Brian Yurkewecz (26:39), 67. John Moore (27:37), 95. Chris Jimenez (28:20), 99. David Rothman (28:24), 109. Joe Belokopitsky (28:43), 122. Brian Lasky (29:11).

Women’s Championship (5,000 meters)

Team Scores:
1. New Hampshire (68), 2. Colgate (96), 3. U.S. Military Academy (153), 4. Towson (158), 5. Binghamton (178), 6. Manhattan (189), 7. Monmouth (216), 8. Bucknell (238),
9. UAlbany (287), 10. Fordham (301).

Individual:
1. Elizabeth Kennedy (Colgate), 18:14, 2. Erica Jesseman (New Hampshire), 18:15, 3. Stacey Marion (Colgate), 18:25, 4. Cailin Lynam (Monmouth), 18:31, 5. Ashley Horton (Binghamton), 18:39, 6. Laura LaPlante (New Hampshire), 18:41, 7. Laura Cummings (UAlbany), 18:42, 8. Brigid Moriarty (Fordham), 18:59, 9. Meredith Malloy (Monmouth), 19:01, 10. Meghan Curran (Army), 19:04.

UAlbany Finishers: 30. Kristine Mun (19:27), 43. Jessica Chichester (19:46), 99. Danielle Trimpop (20:50), 108. Tashia Alexander (21:01), 134. Briana McNamee (21:40),

138. Kristin Grab (21:46), 175. Esperanza Blanco (22:11).