By Ronald Hanaki
Sports Editor

Once again, the women and men of ESU’s Cross Country teams swept the Fordham Fiasco / Ed Joyce Invitational at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, N.Y. last Saturday morning. The event drew a field of distance runners from Division I, II and III schools.

This was the fifth consecutive win for the women. The men have won the meet five times in the last seven years.

The women finished in a total time of 1:40:14.32. That was almost six minutes ahead of the second place team of St. Thomas Aquinas.

The women’s team was led by seniors Kaylin West and Samantha Young. West ran the 5K race in a blistering time of 18:58.35.

Young finished second for the Warriors in a time of 19:21.71.

Sophomore Rachael Davalos finished third for ESU in a time of 19:43.66.

Senior Jasmine Amro and sophomore Jenna Vledder clocked in with times of 20:52.23 and 21:18.37 respectively.

Head Coach Joe Koch has been coaching cross country and track and field at ESU for 32 years.

The men are young, and he has said that it is important for them to run as a pack in order to maximize their results this season. The top five student-athletes from the men’s team finished within 20 seconds of each other.

Freshman Casey Ellis was the top finisher for the men. He completed the 5-mile run in a time of 27:24.40.

Sophomore Jeremy Smith was the second Warrior to cross the finish line for the men in 27:28.13.

He was followed by senior Dan Buccino in a time of 27:29.41.

Sophomore Mike Sheptuk and senior J.P. Montgomery clocked in with times of 27:40.84 and 27:43.80 respectively.

The total team time for the men was 2:17:46.58. That was almost nine minutes ahead of second place St. Thomas Aquinas.

The Warriors look to continue their hot start by running the Monmouth Invitational at Holmdel Park, N.J. this Saturday morning.

Email Ronald at:
rhanaki@live.esu.edu