After competing in the Atlantic 10 Championship to round out October, Fordham Cross Country continued its championship season with the NCAA Northeast Regional this past Friday, November 12. The men’s squad placed 27th of 35 teams in action with a team score of 697 points while the women finished 28th of 36 and 860 points at Boston’s Franklin Park.

As has been the case for much of the season, senior Bridget Alex again led the way for the women, placing 143rd overall on the 6K course at 23:07. Alex has been the Rams’ top performer all season long, finishing first in the team’s victory at the Metropolitan Championships and placing 23rd at the A-10s. Continuing the trend of growth, Alex’s finish was 43 spots and five tickets better than her sophomore sprint.

Junior Taylor Mascetta and graduate student Germaine Harbaugh followed, finishing at 23:37 and 23:50, good for 143rd and 168th, respectively. Mascetta’s finish bumped her up 26 places from her freshman year performance. Two tenths of a second separated freshman Madeleine Ryan and sophomore Maddy Kopec, who finished at 201st and 203rd at 24:16 and 24:18. Freshman Caroline McDonagh rounded things out at 25:10, 229th. Overall, the 28th place finish is an improvement from the team’s 32nd place standing from two seasons ago.

It was more of the same on the men’s side as well, with senior Brandon Hall sprinting into the top 100 with a 96th place finish at 32:40. Sophomore Steven Zucca placed just outside of the century pack at 33:00 and in 11th, continuing his impressive first cross country campaign looking to become one of Fordham’s top performers next season.

Junior Ryan Fahey followed close behind at 33:22, 124th place, with freshman Rodolfo Sanchez tallying in at 34:21, placing inside the top 200 at 173rd. Sophomore Justin Lombardi was the last Ram to cross the finish line at 35:47 and in 211th. Those totals combined for a 27th overall finish placed just behind the University of New Hampshire and ahead of Boston College.

With these finishes behind them, Fordham heads into its final race of the 2021 season, the Eastern College Athletic Conference/Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America competition. The race swaps hands each season as one of the United States oldest meets, with this year’s installment taking place right here in the Bronx at Van Cortlandt Park this Saturday starting at 10 a.m.