Athletics

Men's Cross Country Tops the Field in Season Opener at Lehigh Invitational

The Saint Joseph's men's cross country team topped the leaderboard in the opening race of the season, taking first place at the Lehigh Invitational on Friday afternoon.

Saint Joseph's University cross country team running on field at Lehigh Invitational

Photo Credit: SJU Athletics

ABOUT THE EVENT:

  • The 6k race was hosted by Lehigh University at the Goodman Cross Country Course.
  • The Hawks finished in first place on the evening, eight different schools and 116 runners representing the field.
  • Six Hawks set PRs on the evening.

 
HOW THE HAWKS FINISHED:

  • Noah Deckert paved the way for success for the Crimson and Gray, his time of 18:13.4 good for fourth in the field and second in scoring. The time narrowly missed out on his personal record, just a second shy of breaking his previous best mark.
  • Jay Shanahan also came a second shy of a personal best, finishing with a time of 18:16.6 as the junior tallied a sixth-place finish on the evening
  • Kevin Jumper smashed his old record with a time of 18:26.0, besting his previous best time of 19:18.6 to come in 10th for the Hawks.
  • Will Rau's 11th place finish was the sophomore's first 6k race, setting a benchmark of 18:30.4.
  • Anthony Gargani rounded out the scoring for SJU with a 12th place finish and an 18:33.1 time, also setting a personal record.
  • Finishing in 18th, Vincent Twomey marked his debut in the 6k with an 18:37.9 time. Tomek Przybylak made his collegiate debut and followed just behind Twomey with a time of 18:43.2 to come in 21st.
  • Ryan Cichocki recorded a 25th place finish on his debut, also finishing under 19 minutes with a time of 18:50.7.
  • Almost taking a minute off his previous PR, Josh Forrest finished in 27th on the evening with a time of 18:52.7. Sophomore Evan McGregor finished 1.3 seconds back of his teammate with a 18:54.0 time to finish 28th, Michael Glavin pacing nearly identical with McGregor as the rookie finished in 18:54.9.
  • Dawson Baptiste (19:14.2), Patrick Coyle (19:16.3) and Aidan Doherty (19.19.9) all significantly improved on their previous best times to set new PRs on the evening.
  • Ian Romea (19:27.8), Quinn O'Dell (19:31.6), Owen Hibshman (20:29.6) and Aidan Norris (21:20.6) all made their 6k debut for the Crimson and Gray.

 
UP NEXT:

  • St. Joe's returns to action in two weeks, set to compete in the Paddy Doyle Meet of Champions hosted by Iona University on September 15.

This news article originally appeared on sjuhawks.com.