Fantastic Four Awarded for Performance at NJIT XC Invitational
Patchogue, N.Y. — One might think that the Skyline Conference Weekly Report for cross country has now simply become a platform exclusively dedicated to recognizing the exceptional efforts of St. Joseph's as they are outrunning the competition each week. Both the men's and women's cross country teams dominated their opponents yet again at Saturday's NJIT Highlander Invitational at Branch Brook Park in New Jersey, sweeping the Skyline Conference honors as both Brian Wersan and Brittany Guttieri broke school records.
Guttieri broke school annals with her time of 18:55.27 on the 5K course. The sixth place finish earned Guttieri her fifth Skyline Runner of the Week honor and contributed to her team's second place win out of 19 teams.
Freshman runner Siobhan O'Gorman earned the Skyline Rookie of the Week accolade with her exceptional time of 20:57.93. Ahead of Gorman were upper classmen AnnMarie Zigrosser (10th), Lauren Waka (11th), Jenna Pearsall (22nd) and Mary Cipriano (23rd). First place LIU Post's 48 points only just bested St. Joseph's team score of 52 points.
Wersan was the sixth person out of 167 to cross the finish line of the 8K course, posting a school-record time of 26:28.03, winning Skyline Runner of the Week for the sixth time this season and leading his team to a sixth place finish out of 21 teams. Though placed 56th, Wersan's teammate, Nick Diaz, was not far behind as his impressive 29:11.27 time earned him his fifth Skyline Rookie of the Week honor. Jon Afanador and Rich Schimmel finished ahead of the freshman at 33 and 53, respectively.
Most excitingly, the next course that the SJC cross country program will step onto is their own as they will be hosting the St. Joseph's College Invitational at Sunken Meadow Park in Kings Park, on Saturday, October 15 at noon.
