Banner day at IC4A

Hello all:

Here is what I wrote up for the Marist Web Site (www.GoRedFoxes.com). Figured I'd give you all a sneak preview.

This was a great way to end the best season in school history.

More later in the weekend and/or earlier next week ...


NEW YORK – Seniors David Raucci (Clermont, NY) and captain Girma Segni (Bronx, NY) closed out their landmark cross country careers Saturday in record-breaking fashion, leading the Marist College men’s cross country team to its best team performance in school history at the 100th annual ICAAAA Championships, held at a cold and windy Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx.

Competing for the final time on the famed cross country course, the seniors led the Red Foxes to a third-place finish in the Championship Division, the highest placement in team history. The previous best team mark was fifth place in 2006. En route, the top-5 runners eclipsed the school record for combined time at Van Cortlandt Park by one second, bettering a mark set earlier this fall at the Iona College Meet of Champions.

The Red Foxes trailed IC4A Champions Duke (48 points) and second-place finisher Duquesne (87 points). Marist scored 102 points for third place in the 19-team field.

Raucci placed second overall, the highest individual finish in the Championship Division in school history, in a personal-best time of 25:13 over the 5-mile course. He earned IC4A All-East honors for the fourth time in his career.

Segni, the school-record holder at VCP, was 16th overall and earned his fourth All-East honors with a time of 25:43. Segni and Raucci have been the top-two runners for the Red Foxes for the past four years, and have set all of the cross country program’s school records in the process.

“We’ve never had a 1-2 punch like Girma and David, for four straight years, and we may never will have that again,’’ head coach Pete Colaizzo said. “As a program, we cannot thank David and Girma enough for all they have done to elevate our team and our school.’’

Sophomore Tim Keegan (Huntington, NY) improved on his VCP best by nearly 40 seconds with his 22nd-place finish of 25:43. That placement earned him IC4A All-East honors. Freshman Will Griffin (Columbia, CT) lopped 55 seconds off his previous VCP best with his 25th-place finish in 25:54. That placement earned him the final IC4A All-East position in the race. It was the first time in school history that four Marist runners earned IC4A Championship Division All-East honors on the same day.

Junior Conor Shelley (Rockville Centre, NY) was 38th in 26:04, rounding out the scoring pack. He was followed by freshmen Matt Flint (Queensbury, NY) and Curtis Jensen (Atlantic Highlands, NY), who notched personal-best times of 26:16 (54th place) and 26:35 (70th place).

The top-5 combined time of 2:08:43 was five seconds faster than the combined time at the Iona College Meet of Champions two months ago, with the average top-5 runner time equaling 25:44.6 – the best in the 45-year history of Marist Men’s Cross Country. Saturday’s combined time was run on a course slightly longer than Meet of Champions (5 miles is about 45 meters longer than 8,000 meters). It still represents the fastest combined time in school history.

In addition to the Championship Division result, freshman Brian Townsend (East Setauket, NY) won the Coaches Association 5-mile race in a personal-best time of 26:53.

The IC4A meet concludes the fall cross country season. The indoor track season begins in two weeks at the Yale Season Opener, Dec. 6, at Coxe Cage in New Haven, CT.

IC4A Championships
Individual results, 5 miles

2. David Raucci 25:13 *IC4A All East
16. Girma Segni 25:43 *IC4A All East
22. Tim Keegan 25:49 *IC4A All East
25. Will Griffin 25:54 *IC4A All East
38. Conor Shelley 26:04
54. Matt Flint 26:16
70. Curtis Jensen 26:35
77. John Keenan 26:44
80. Nick Webster 26:45
89. Matt Janczyk 26:51
103. Joe McElhoney 27:15
107. Alex Emerel 27:19
129 finishers

Team standings: 1. Duke 48, 2. Duquesne 87, 3. Marist 102, 4. Cornell 157, 5. Princeton 183, 6. Columbia 193 ... the last page of team standings blew away in the chilly breeze. There were 19 teams total in the Championship Division.

Coaches Association race, 5 miles

1. Brian Townsend 26:53
4. Sam McMullen 27:13
5. Tom Lipari 27:17
7. Frank Stewart 27:25
10. Pat Duggan 27:40
14. Zak Smetana 27:47
26. Kyle Havard 28:09
30. Ryan Brown 28:20
37. Greg Masto 28:47
38. Kris Geist 28:51
55. Mike Holinko 30:41
66. Alex Lombardozzi 33:25
66 finishers