MONTGOMERY, N.Y. - The No. 27 Iona University men's cross country team earned its 33rd straight Metro Atlantic Conference Championship in dominating fashion Saturday afternoon at Twin Ponds on the FARM in Orange County, New York. Iona posted 19 team points and had eight of the first 11 runners cross the line along with a ninth earning All-MAAC honors. Junior
Damien Dilcher earned the individual crown for the Gaels, winning the race by more than eight seconds. The 33 consecutive conference championship winning streak is the longest in the NCAA in any sport.
RACE SUMMARY
Dilcher paced the 8,000-meter race with his time of 24:25.0. After Siena's Jackson Cayward crossed second (24:33.4), the next four runners donned the gold singlet. Sophomore
Lachlan Wellington was third overall (24:36.4) and was followed by junior
Nick Soldevere (24:41.9), sophomore
Matt Rankin (24:45.9) and senior
Jonathan DeSouza (24:49.8) to represent the Maroon & Gold's scorers.
Four other Gaels earned All-MAAC honors, with sophomore
Tadhg Donnelly earning eighth (24:58.8), senior
Joshua DeSouza ninth (25:03.9) and freshmen
Aiden Coles (25:13.1) and
Scott Fagan (25:25.2) finishing 11th and 15th respectively.
TOP HONORS
The Iona men swept the top individual honors. Dilcher earned MAAC Most Outstanding Performer honors for his first place finish. Coles was the MAAC Rookie of the Year as the meet's top freshman finisher. Finally, Director of Cross Country/Track & Field
Joe Pienta was named MAAC Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year for the third straight year. Dilcher became Iona's 23rd consecutive individual champion dating back to 2002. Coles followed teammates Donnelly (2022), Rankin (2021) and DeSouza (2020-21) as the top MAAC newcomer.
TEAM RESULTS
Siena finished second to the Gaels with 81 points. Rider (99) was third and was followed by Canisius (102) and Marist (115) in the top five. Iona has posted a team score of greater than 18 only three times this century (2001, 2018, 2023) with 11 perfect scores of 15.
IONA INDIVIDUALS
ALL-MAAC FINISHERS
| Pl. |
Name |
Team |
Year |
Time |
| 1.) |
Damien Dilcher |
Iona |
JR |
24:25.0 |
| 2.) |
Jackson Cayward |
Siena |
SO |
24:33.4 |
| 3.) |
Lachlan Wellington |
Iona |
SO |
24:36.4 |
| 4.) |
Nick Soldevere |
Iona |
JR |
24:41.9 |
| 5.) |
Matt Rankin |
Iona |
SO |
24:45.9 |
| 6.) |
Jonathan Desouza |
Iona |
SR |
24:49.8 |
| 7.) |
Braden York |
Niagara |
SR |
24:51.7 |
| 8.) |
Tadhg Donnelly |
Iona |
SO |
24:58.8 |
| 9.) |
Joshua Desouza |
Iona |
SR |
25:03.9 |
| 10.) |
Tom Appenheimer |
Canisius |
SR |
25:09.6 |
| 11.) |
Aiden Coles |
Iona |
FR |
25:13.1 |
| 12.) |
Jared Lautenslager |
Manhattan |
JR |
25:14.6 |
| 13.) |
Tyler Greene |
Siena |
SO |
25:16.1 |
| 14.) |
Tamrat Snyder |
Rider |
SR |
25:22.5 |
| 15.) |
Scott Fagan |
Iona |
FR |
25:25.2 |
TEAM FINISHES
| Pl. |
Team |
Score |
| 1.) |
Iona |
19 |
| 2.) |
Siena |
81 |
| 3.) |
Rider |
99 |
| 4.) |
Canisius |
102 |
| 5.) |
Marist |
115 |
| 6.) |
Mount St. Mary's |
197 |
| 7.) |
Niagara |
212 |
| 8.) |
Manhattan |
233 |
| 9.) |
Quinnipiac |
239 |
| 10.) |
Fairfield |
240 |
| 11.) |
Saint Peter's |
359 |
UP NEXT
Iona's championship season continues in less than two weeks when the program tackles the 2023 NCAA Northeast Regional Championship at Van Cortlandt Park.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Be sure to follow Iona University athletics on all social media platforms:
Iona Gaels: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube (
Email Updates).
Iona Cross Country/Track: Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
