Roughly two weeks after the Fordham men placed 16th out of 43 teams and the Fordham women placed 26th out of 36 teams in the 40th edition of the ECAC Championship, both sides of the cross country team placed 11th at the Atlantic 10 Championship this past Saturday at the Elvin R. King Cross Country Course in Cedarville, Ohio.
The men’s circuit was individually won by Loyola Chicago’s Chris Devaney. The graduate student finished the five-mile course in 23:48.6, and led the Ramblers to a first-place team finish in a field of 15 squads.
Fordham’s 11th-place finish was aided by the performance of senior Steven Zucca, who placed 18th overall with a final time of 24:39.4. Zucca has been one the Rams’ most consistent competitors this season, and his showing this past weekend was par for the course.
Graduate student Colin Flood was the next Ram to complete the 8K course. The New Jersey native placed 39th at 24:58.4. Freshman Sean Reidy placed 71st at 25:35.7, and freshman Jack Boerger grabbed 78th with a mark of 25:48.0. Additionally, sophomores Nicolas Grabarz and Darren Croke and freshmen Matthew McCabe, John Corrigan and Tadael Mihret all competed and placed among the top 130 finishers in a field of 141.
Loyola Chicago won the women’s team championship, but the competition was individually won by VCU junior Lauren Tunnell. The Virginia native completed the 6K race in 20:50.6, and became the third Conference Champion in program history.
The women of Fordham were able to grab 11th place thanks in large part to freshman Meredith Gotzman. The freshman from Maryland placed 36th with a final time of 22:20.7. Junior Caitrina Barton was not far behind, finishing 46th at 22:36.3.
Senior Marin Bogulski finished 73rd with a time of 23:04.0, and junior Madeleine Ryan placed 79th at 23:13.3.
Further, freshman Sarah Zahaykevich, seniors Maddy Kopec and Clodagh McGroary and sophomores Quincy Biddle and Alexis Smith all competed and placed among the top 130 runners in a field of 139.
Cross Country’s next test will come in the form of the NCAA Northeast Regional. The event will be held on Friday, Nov. 10 at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx.
