Marist men’s and women’s cross country each registered top-four finishes at the MAAC Championships in Latham, NY on Saturday.
The men finished in third place behind Iona and Siena while the women came in fourth to Quinnipiac, Iona, and Siena. On the men’s side, it was Iona’s 32nd consecutive MAAC Championship win.
Senior Ramsey Little notched a ninth-place finish, running the eight-kilometer course in 24:30 and garnering all-MAAC honors for the second time in his career. Chris Paxis (16th, 25:03), Gabriel Rodriguez (23rd, 25:23), Daniel Czop (27th, 25:30), and Kieran Donnelly (31st, 25:36) rounded out Marist’s top five performers who were the counting scorers.
It has been an impressive season for Little, who won Marist’s season-opening meet at Vassar with a course record time. Paxis has also had a solid season, recently pacing Marist at the IC4A/ECAC Championships in New York City.
Donnelly had the fourth-best time out of the freshmen that competed in the meet and earned a spot on the MAAC All-Rookie team.
Aidan Pech (37th, 25:50) and Brendan Dearie (50th, 26:07) also finished in the top 50. The third-place result is Marist’s best showing since 2016.
Here are the men’s team standings.
1-Iona, 17
2-Siena, 61
3-Marist, 96
4-Rider, 100
5-Canisius, 131
6-Mount St. Mary’s, 192
7-Manhattan, 203
8-Fairfield, 254
9-Quinnipiac, 254
10-Niagra, 295
11-Saint Peter’s, 344
Sophomore Samantha Keller paced the women’s team with a time of 22:19 and a 15th-place finish on the six-kilometer course, earning an All-MAAC selection. Hannah Belleville (20th, 22:31), Parker O’Brien (23rd, 22:37), Adele Alexander (36th, 23:07), and Sierra Fisher (42nd, 23:22) were the other Red Foxes who had counting scores.
Anaiya Bobo (43rd, 23:22) and Kaitlyn Murtagh (48th, 23:27) also posted top 50 times. The fourth-place finish was Marist’s best since 2019.
Here are the women’s team standings.
1-Quinnipiac, 26
2-Siena, 46
3-Iona, 64
4-Marist, 131
5-Rider, 144
6-Canisius, 161
7-Manhattan, 211
8-Fairfield, 221
9-Niagra, 252
10-Mount St. Mary’s, 264
11-Saint Peter’s, 335
A top-four finish bodes well for a team that is still very youthful. Each of the seven runners that finished in the top 50 is either a freshman or a sophomore.
The men’s and women’s teams both have one more race to run — the NCAA Northeast Regionals at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx on Nov. 11.
Photo from Marist Athletics
