Oct. 31, 2009

Men's Overall Results
Men's Team Results

Women's Overall Results
Women's Team Results

Photo Gallery

ST. LOUIS - Saint Joseph's University and the University of Dayton picked up the men's and women's team titles, respectively, this morning at the 2009 Atlantic 10 Conference Cross Country Championships held at a wet and muddy Forest Park in St. Louis.

It was the first team title for the Saint Joseph's men's squad since 2000. The Hawks were anchored by five runners placing in the top 20 in the 8K race, led by sophomore Kevin McDonnell (2nd, 26:13.9), senior Kyle Murray (5th, 26.40.4), senior Jon Sclafani (15th, 27:17.9) and senior Jimmy Jennings (16th, 27:18.1). SJU head coach Mike Glavin picked up Coach of the Year honors on the men's side.

"This is something these guys have worked extremely hard for in their four years here," Glavin said. "Every guy has a different story, and three of those guys are seniors who worked extremely hard to get here. The unsung hero today was our fifth finisher, Brian Guterl. He had a hamstring problem and came out here on this muddy course and ran courageously. I am extremely proud of my team."

Dayton's Chris Lemon won the men's individual title with a time of 26:13.3, finishing just ahead of McDonnell in one of the closest finishes in recent history.

"It was a fun race, and I think everybody on our team really put themselves out there today," said Lemon, who has been named Atlantic 10 Performer of the Week in five of seven weeks this season. "It was exciting. Today was all about positioning. I didn't pay attention to any of the markings on the course or the time, I was just out there running getting myself into the best position possible."

Lemon's teammate, freshman Greg Roeth, earned Rookie of the Year honors after finishing 25th overall with a time of 27:38.3.

SJU, which accumulated 56 points, were trailed by last year's champion UMass (67) and Dayton (70).

La Salle placed fourth with 119 points, while Temple finished fifth with 120 points. Duquesne (167), Charlotte (171), Richmond (203), Xavier (239) and George Washington (294) rounded out the top 10. Saint Louis finished 11th, with Fordham placing 12th, Rhode Island 13th and St. Bonaventure 14th.

Earning All-Conference accolades for finishing in the top 15 were: Lemon (Dayton), McDonnell (Saint Joseph's), Mike Stolar (Duquesne), Adu Dentamo (Charlotte), Murray (Saint Joseph's), Mike Anderson (Dayton), Kevin Johnson (Massachusetts), Mike May (Temple), Matt Lemon (Dayton), Andrew McCann (Massachusetts), Tommy Kauffmann (Xavier), Tim Quinn (Richmond), Tyler Jones (La Salle), Zachary Gordon (Massachusetts) and Sclafani (Saint Joseph's).

Dan Cartina led George Washington with a 28th-place time of 27:44.7, while Fordham's Clifton Hilario led the Rams with a 36th-place showing (28:02.6). Neal Rodrigues turned in a time of 28:13.2 to finish 47th overall and lead Saint Louis, while Nate Wigton led Rhode Island with a time of 28:33.4. Jimmy Burton was the top finisher for St. Bonaventure, crossing the line in 29:51.5.

On the women's side, Dayton captured its first-ever A-10 cross country title. The Flyers were led by Maura Bulgrin, who finished third overall with a 5K time of 19:47.8. Also earning All-Conference honors for Dayton were Elissa Mason (10th, 20:10.0) and Liz Coorey (11th, 20:16.0).

Dayton coach Ann Alyanak was voted Coach of the Year. UD women's track and field head coach Adam Steinwachs accepted the award on Alyanak's behalf.

"It's an unbelievable feeling," Steinwachs said. "We knew we had a chance to be in it, but with the conditions you never know what will happen. They did a great job executing the race plan, and it came down to them just wanting it. They got in there and gave gutsy performances across the board."

George Washington's Megan Hogan ran away with the individual title, posting a time of 18:37.8 and out-distancing the second-place finisher by more than 50 seconds.

"Overall I'm happy with my performance," said Hogan, who earned runner-up honors at the conference meet a season ago. "I think I can speak for everyone out here that it was really tough to dig our feet out of the mud, but it paid off. It was so tough because you are using so much more energy, which is why the times are much slower. But you can't think about times on a course like this, you just have to run the race. It's a great feeling and it was a great day."

Courtney Baldwin of Massachusetts claimed Rookie of the Year honors after finishing in 20:09.6, which was good for ninth overall.

Dayton totaled 72 points, finishing ahead of second-place Charlotte (98) and third-place Massachusetts (109).

Duquesne placed fourth with 114 points, while La Salle finished fifth with 153 points. Richmond (157), Saint Joseph's (184), George Washington (185), Xavier (207) and Fordham (226) rounded out the top 10. Saint Louis finished 11th, with Rhode Island placing 12th, Temple 13th and St. Bonaventure 14th.

Earning All-Conference honors on the women's side for finishing in the top 15 were: Hogan (George Washington), Amanda Goetschius (Charlotte), Bulgrin (Dayton), Katie Kelly (Duquesne), Caitlin Thomas (Xavier), Brigit Moriarty (Fordham), Nicol Traynor (Richmond), Jessica Stern (George Washington), Baldwin (Massachusetts), Mason (Dayton), Coorey (Dayton), Meg Ecker (Duquesne), Hilary Orf (Saint Louis), Caitlin Storbeck (La Salle) and Samantha Gallagher (La Salle).

Aimee Chegwidden finished 16th overall to lead Saint Joseph's, while Niamh Ryan placed first among Rhode Island with a 25th-place time of 20:48.5. Temple was led by Rebecca Mims' 42-place finish (21:18.0), while Kim Burke led St. Bonaventure with a time of 24:23.1.