By Jack McLoone

Fordham Cross Country raced at the NCAA Regionals in Amherst, New York on Friday, where the women were able to secure a 19th place finish (out of 25). The men came in 28th (out of 34).

“Racing in a competitive meet like regionals gives our team a chance to get used to running in a crowded field,” said Ram junior Ryan Kutch. “It also shows how much every few seconds can matter.”

Leading the way for the Rams was a different senior than usual: Abigail Taylor. Crossing the line in the 6K race in 23:22.9, she was the 76th place finisher. Also finishing in the top 100 was another senior, Laurel Fisher, who came in 99th with a 23:40.4.

The third place finisher for the Rams was the expected Rams’ top finisher, Angelina Grebe, who still cracked the top 150 with a time of 24:12.3, giving her a 135th place finish. Also inside the top 150 were junior Katarzyna Krzyzanowski (146th, 24:19.7) and senior Kate McCormack (147th, 24:20.1).
Rounding out the women’s finishers was freshman Bridget Alex, who finished her first NCAA Regionals in 201st with a time of 25:38.5.
The Rams had 591 points, good for that 19th-place finish, up from their 22nd (out of 36) finish last season.

While the women’s side had a somewhat surprising top finisher, the men were paced by the always-dependable junior Ryan Kutch, who finished 57th with a time of 34:23.3.

The only other Ram in the top 150 was junior Sean Sullivan, who finished in 35:44.5, good for a 144th-place finish. Breaking the top 200 was junior Matthew Roma, who came in in 180th with a time of 36:47.

Rounding out the Ram runners were graduate student Brian Cook (214th, 37:56.7), junior Patrick Donahue (216th, 38:01.8) and freshman Brandon Hall (224th, 38:48).

Cross Country will close out its season next week at ECAC/IC4A Championships, where both the men’s and women’s teams finished ninth out of 25 teams in 2017.

“Next weekend, we are looking to perform well at Van Cortlandt like we did at [the Metropolitan Championships],” said Kutch.

The meet will be held on Saturday, Nov. 17 at 9:30 a.m. The event is held at the Rams’ home course, Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx.