College Cross Country
Rider at Eastern Championships
Rider men 8th of 15 at IC4A
Rider women 9th of 12 at ECAC
BRONX, NY—The 2014 cross country season came to an for the Broncs in the Bronx Saturday, as Rider competed in the Eastern Championships, the men in the 106th ICAAAA and the women in the 30th Eastern College Athletic Conference Championships.
“We ran really well today,” said Rider head coach Bob Hamer. “I was really pleased with the effort.”
For the Rider women, senior Emily Ritter (Millsboro, DE/Sussex Tech) placed second overall, the highest finish ever for a Bronc, covering the 5,000m course in 17:46 to earn All-East honors. “Emily ran a tremendous race,” Hamer said. “She ran a perfect race today.”
Ritter has now earned All-East honors in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track & field.
For the Rider men, senior Anthony Dentino (Sewell, NJ/Washington Twp.) placed 10th overall, covering the 5.0 mile Van Cortlandt Park course in 25:27. “Anthony ran a tremendous race,” Hamer said. “He was up with the leaders the whole time.”
Dentino earned All-East honors for the third time. “I'm really impressed with Anthony,” Hamer said.”He's had a great career and has done a great job as a leader of this team.”
Last year Dentino finished 11th of 88 runners in 25:28.
Also for the Rider women, junior Nicolette Mateescu (Kendall Park, NJ/South Brunswick) placed 25th in 18:34. “Niky ran really well,” Hamer said. Last year Mateescu finished 23rd of 70 in 19:03.
Also for the Rider men, senior Derek Lake (Middletown, NY/Pine Bush) placed 54th in 26:35 and freshman Danniel Belay (Gaithersburg, MD/Gaithersburg) was 55th in 26:36.
This year's events featured a much stronger field, with many regionally ranked teams that normally compete this weekend at Nationals competing.
“This year's race was really tough, especially on the women's side,” Hamer said. “There were quite a few teams here who didn't make the Nationals who normally do so this field we stacked. It was a much tougher race up front than it has been in the past several years.”
Columbia won both the men's and women's races.
The Rider indoor track & field season begins December 7 at Princeton.
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