SJC Invitational Ruled by First Place Eagles
Kings Park, N.Y. —After their triumphs abroad, the Golden Eagles cross country conquerors hosted their own invitational at Sunken Meadow State Park on Saturday where they vanquished the competition on their own turf. Both the men and women took the gold in their respective races with spectacular performances setting them high above their opposition.
Brian Wersan (Holbrook, N.Y./ Sachem North) was the one to break the ribbon with a first place time of 28:15.7, nearly thirty long seconds ahead of the next fastest runner. St. Joseph's Jon Afanador (Medford, N.Y./ Patchogue-Medford), Rich Schimmel (Lindenhurst, N.Y./ Lindenhurst) and Nick Diaz (Hauppauge, N.Y./ Hauppauge) all finished within the top ten in the 8K race. The first place team finished with 34 points.
Brittany Guttieri (Oakdale, N.Y./ Connetquot) finished second out of 102 runners with an impressive time of 20:54.25, leading her home team to first place with 31 points. Lady Eagles AnnMarie Zigrosser (Bayport, N.Y/ St. John the Baptist), Lauren Waka (Lake Ronkonkoma, N.Y./ Lake Ronkonkoma) and Caitlyn Ryan (Farmingville, N.Y./ Sachem East) all finished within the top ten runners on the 5K course.
The St. Joseph's cross country program's next endeavor will be the Skyline Championships at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx on October 27 at 1 p.m.