MAAC XC meet today: Women 3rd, men 6th

Quick recap of the events of today at Van Cortlandt Park:

--Upon arrival at Van Cortlandt via JTR Marist Bus, the skies unloaded with a fury of sideways rain and wind. Lovely! But it soon passed, we set up our tent and we were on our way.
--The women's team raced gamely, tough and with pride. Our top four ladies ran tremendous races, really inspiring. Several others ran great efforts as well further down the line. We finished in third place, behind Iona College and Quinnipiac University. Monmouth, a new entry in the league, was hot on our heels in fourth -- just one point behind us! A top three finish is something of which we are proud.
--The men's team had a day that kind of epitomizes the challenging season we have had. We finished 6th out of 11 teams. Iona College won its 23rd consecutive MAAC title. Canisius College took over as the runner-up, a spot that we held with great pride for 8 consecutive years and 9 of the previous 10 years. Rider was third, Fairfield was fourth and Monmouth was fifth. The league has improved greatly. We could have run much better, but the effort was there from the men, as always. We went down fighting till the end.

Results and more on the meet as we move along here over the weekend. But for now, I would like to leave you with a short but lovely e-mail I received from Marty McGowan, Marist Class of 1973 (for those keeping score at home, that was 40 years ago!), who showed up to support his beloved Foxes:

"Pete: Just a quick note to thank the men and women of Marist who ran today, their parents and you for a wonderful afternoon. The time spent at VCP was very inspirational to me today, and I learned a lot from both teams. Pictures to follow by the end of the weekend. Thanks again. I'm so proud of everyone. Marty."