By JACKSON WANG
Sports Editor
PUBLISHED October 11, 2011
On Friday, the Saint Rose men’s and women’s cross country team hosted its seventh annual Golden Knights Joust at The Crossings of Colonie against SUNY Cobleskill.
Both the men’s team and women’s team finished on top of SUNY Cobleskill. The men’s side ran an average time of 28:14, while the women’s side ran an average time of 20:39.
“I was extremely proud of our performances today,” said Andrew Rickert, head coach of men’s and women’s cross country.
On the men’s squad, senior Macky Lloyd continues his remarkable season by finishing first with a time of 26:33 and remaining unbeaten. Senior Dan Gargaro was two spots behind Lloyd finishing third with a time of 28:22.
“Macky’s fourth win in a row was punctuated by the efforts of our four freshmen who have continued to shoulder this team,” said Rickert. “We saw some great 2nd half performances from the men which speaks to their overall strength.”
Four more runners finished in the top ten for the Golden Knights with freshmen Dominick Costanzo and Ed Brown finished forth and sixth with times of 28:26 and 28:37. Also, freshman Eamonn Coughlin finished eighth with a time of 29:08 and junior Nathan Bub was right behind Coughlin finishing ninth with a time of 29:10.
On the women’s squad, freshmen Bianca Jordan finished first with a time of 20:28 on the three-mile course. This was Jordan’s first colligate race victory. Sophomore Jordan Westcott was right behind Jordan finishing second with a time of 20:30.
“The women’s team displayed remarkable pack running,” said Rickert. “This speaks volumes to their camaraderie and overall team vision.”
Six more runners finished in the top ten for the Golden Knights. Following a SUNY Cobleskill runner, junior Dana Welch and freshman Jess Ayotte finished forth and fifth with times of 20:38 and 20:48.
Juniors Patty Massa and Emma Cohen followed by finishing sixth and seventh with times of 20:50 and 20:51. Freshmen Molly Wellman and junior Grace Giampaglia cap off the top ten places finishing eighth and tenth.
Next up for the Golden Knights will be the NE-10 Conference Championships held out at Westfield, Ma on October 23.
“Going into the NE-10’s our women know they can work together in the race and move up and try to get as many as possible inside the top 30-40 runners,” said Rickert. “The men also gained further experience at the 8k distance, since so many of them are freshmen they continue learn from each race how to approach the distance.”
