Men's and Women's XC Compete at NCAA Regionals
Geneseo, N.Y. — After a record breaking season, a 2013 Skyline Championship win and an outstanding performance at the ECAC Championships, the Golden Eagles cross country program took on the NCAA Regionals and did not disappoint. Although they did not place as high as they are used to, SJC's elite runners certainly held their own as they competed against top Division III programs including Cortland, N.Y.U., Geneseo and Oneonta.
For the women, junior AnnMarie Zigrosser (Bayport, N.Y. / St. John the Baptist) led the pack, placing 69th out of 269 athletes with a time of 23:10.0 on the 6K course. Brittany Guttieri (Oakdale, N.Y./ Connetquot) placed 89th with a time of 23:30.5, followed by Caitlyn Ryan (Farmingville, N.Y./ Sachem East) (24:03.4), Lauren Waka (Lake Ronkonkoma, N.Y. / Lake Ronkonkoma) (24:20.6) and Jenna Pearsall (East Islip, N.Y. / East Islip) (25:09.3).
With SJC's top male runner Brian Wersan (Holbrook, N.Y. / Sachem North) having to pull out of the race with an injury, junior Rich Schimmel (Lindenhurst, N.Y. / Lindenhurst) picked up the slack as the first Eagle to cross the finish line, placing 188th out of 275 athletes with a time of 28:44.7 on the 8K course. Nick Diaz (Hauppauge, N.Y. / Hauppauge) was on his heals placing 94th with a time of 28:47.7, followed closely by John Suchopar (Bohemia, N.Y. / Connetquot) (30:26.3) and Kevin Sanders (Wading River, N.Y. / Shoreham-Wading River) (30:54.9).
As a predominantly young program, many of the accomplished Golden Eagle runners will be returning next year for what is sure to be yet another exciting season.
