NEW ROCHELLE, NY – The Iona College men's cross country program had golden locks leading the Maroon & Gold to a golden first place finish at the 25
th annual Br. John "Paddy" Doyle Meet of Champions. Junior
John Millar, in his first race as a Gael, crossed the finish line of the 8K course at Van Cortlandt Park first in a time of 24:27.8.
It is the first time the Maroon & Gold have won the Meet of Champions since 2013, and it's the first time an Iona student-athlete placed first since Leonard Korir in 2011.
MEET SUMMARY
Millar's winning time is the eight fastest ever in the Meet of Champions history. It is the fastest time since Cameron Levin of Southern Utah ran a 24:24.1 in 2008 and Millar's time is Iona's best since Korir came home in 24:80.0 in 2011.
Iona had four runners finish inside the top-10. Following Millar in the three-four spots were
Jamie Dee and
Ehab El-Sandali, who finished in 24:36.1 and 24:49.1 respectively. Both of those times rank top-25 all-time in the 25-year history of the race. Last year Dee finished second as a rookie in the race in 25:03.0.
Also scoring a portion of Iona's team points was
Jack O'Leary running into 10
th place in 25:10.1.
Jac Hopkins, running in his first long distance race in quite some time, finished 20
th at 25:41.0.
Also lacing up for the Maroon & Gold were veterans
Christian Alberico and Edwin Johnson. They placed 34
th and 36
th in 26:05.3 and 26:06.7.
Damien Dilcher (26:11.0),
Campbell Lee (26:52.2) and
Jonathan DeSouza (27:43.9) also continued their rust-busting start to the season.
Iona had a team score of 38 points. Charlotte finished second with 66 team points, closely followed by Temple's 72. Columbia and Fordham round out the top-five.
The 49ers entered the Meet of Champions the eighth ranked team in the Southeast Region. The Owls were also among the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association's regional rankings, sitting in fifth in the Mid-Atlantic Region. Also in the Mid-Atlantic is La Salle, who finished sixth in Friday's race and rank seventh in the region, and Lehigh, who are 15
th in the region and eighth place finishers at the Meet of Champions. The Lions are seventh in the Northeast Region as of the release earlier this week.
FULL RESULTS
| PLACE |
TEAM |
POINTS |
| 1. |
Iona |
38 |
| 2. |
Charlotte |
57 |
| 3. |
Temple |
72 |
| 4. |
Columbia |
125 |
| 5. |
Fordham |
128 |
| 6. |
La Salle |
145 |
| 7. |
Johns Hopkins |
151 |
| 8. |
Lehigh |
184 |
| 9. |
Cornell |
257 |
| 10. |
Rhode Island |
292 |
| 11. |
Binghamton |
348 |
| 12. |
Loyola (Md.) |
382 |
| 13. |
Bloomfield |
389 |
| 14. |
Adelphi |
427 |
| 15. |
Queens |
464 |
| 16. |
St. Francis Brooklyn |
484 |
| 17. |
Post |
513 |
| 18, |
Yeshiva |
535 |
UP NEXT
Iona's next meet is the nationally renowned Paul Short Invitational hosted by Lehigh in Bethlehem, PA. The Gaels will be running on the Goodman Campus Cross Country Course on Saturday, Oct. 5
SOCIAL MEDIA
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