College Cross Country

Rider at Penn State National

STATE COLLEGE, PA-The Broncs competed at the prestigious Penn State National meet on Saturday against some of the top teams in the nation and senior Christian Gonzalez (Somerset, NJ/Franklin Twp.) proved he belongs right there with them.

Gonzalez placed fourth overall among the 263 runners, covering the 5.2 mile course in 25:30.

"Chris ran a great race," said Rider head coach Bob Hamer.  "He stuck to the plan and was right there with the leaders for four miles. With a half mile to go a couple of the Penn State runners gapped the field a bit. He ran a heck of a race and I was really excited."

Syracuse, ranked 14^th in the nation, won the race, while host Penn State, ranked 23^rd, finished second. The Broncs were 19^th of 27 teams. "There were really some great runners in this race," Hamer said.

For the Rider women, who finished 29^th of 31 teams, junior Heather Giovagnoli (Royersford, PA/Spring Ford) placed 127^th of the 304 runners, covering the 6,000m course in 23:06. "Heather ran a really great race," Hamer said.

Villanova, ranked first in the nation, won the race.

Also for the Rider men, junior Michael Lindner (Whitehouse Station, NJ/Hunterdon Central) placed 114^th in 27:27, senior Michael Soroko (Kinnelon, NJ/Kinnelon) was 128^th in 27:46, sophomore Sean McCullough (Plymouth Meeting, PA/La Salle) was 154^th in 28:21, sophomore Sean Donohue (Cliffwood Beach, NJ/Matawan) finished 175^th in 29:19, freshman Avery Schofield (Glassboro, NJ/Delsea) was 176^th in 29:23 and sophomore John Hill (Voorhees, NJ/Eastern) was 177^th in 29:29.

"The men in general were very inconsistent in the race," Hamer said. "We got out and ran well for the first mile and a half, then we would run a mile or so where we were not real competitive, then we'd bounce back, but in a big meet like this running like that will not give you a good result."

Also for the Rider women senior Chelsea Callan (Hazlet, NJ/Raritan) finished 138^th in 23:17 and sophomore Erin Fitzgibbons (Sayreville, NJ/Sayreville) was 164^th in 23:50. "Erin ran really well today," Hamer said. "That was a huge breakthrough for her. She has really evolved into being a great competitor for us."

Sophomore Jillian Shutt (Lawrenceville, PA/Williamson) was 182^nd in 24:19, junior Kelli Kaelin (Little Egg Harbor, NJ/Pinelands Regional) was 198^th in 24:44, sophomore Nicole Tassello (Suffern, NY/Suffern) finished 210^th in 25:07 and senior Johanna Clarke (Laurelton, NY/Mary Louis Academy) was 212 in 25:14.

The Broncs will next compete at the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship October 29. "Up next is the MAAC," Hamer said. "We thought we'd be much further along at this point in the season, so I'm a little disappointed with where we are. Hopefully in the next two weeks we can fix the things we need to fix and we'll be able to put together a good race and realize the potential we do have."

-ru-