Aside from the Annual XC Kickoff, Monmouth’s Cross Country program hosts an additional annual meet early in the season. After giving an exceptional performance at the XC-Kickoff at Thompson Park two weeks ago, the Hawks performed admirably once again at the Monmouth Invitational on Sept. 20. This second invitational is held at the challenging course of Holmdel Park in Holmdel, NJ. The hilly course is feared by high school and collegian runners alike for its signature, 180 meter steep incline known as “the bowl.”
Despite the challenges posed, the men’s squad placed first overall with a score of 28 points. Marist (66), Siena (98), Rider (100), and Quinnipiac (116) trailed the Hawks to create the top five. Junior Domenick D’Agostino was the first overall finish as he completed the 8,000 meter course in 26:18.6 in a field of 156 athletes.
Right behind D’Agostino was established senior Khari Bowen, who placed third overall with a time of 26:28.1. MU’s men’s top five was rounded out by Graham Huggins-Filozof, Ben Dillon, and Kevin Summonte. The three finished seventh, eighth, and ninth with times of 26:49.6, 26:50.2, and 26:55.8 respectively.
In the women’s race, MU placed fourth with 95 points, just shy of Rutgers (93). Ahead of them were Marist (71), and finally Quinnipiac who won with 31 points.
In the fairly competitive 5,000 meter race, sophomore Jenna Cupp was the first lady hawk to cross the line in 18:57.4 – she placed 12th out of a field of 171 runners. Close behind Cupp was freshman Allie Wilson who placed 14th with a time of 19:00.6. Sophomore Molly McKeon was next to finish in 19:38.8, followed closely behind senior Mackenzie Roche and sophomore Lennon Cooper who ran times of 19:43.0, and 19:51.0 respectively.
Although the women may not have performed as well as they had hoped, head coach Joe Compagni stresses how the Monmouth XC-Kickoff as well as the Monmouth Invitational serve as great gauges and barometers for the runners in preparing for future, more important meets.
The next big meet for the Hawks is the Paul Short Run at Lehigh University. This annual meet brings together many competitive schools in the northeast, including many inter-conference rivals from the MAAC (Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference). Both the men and women will compete in the Paul Short Run on Saturday, October 4 in Bethlehem, PA.
“Now in our second year in the MAAC, we expect to be stronger. The men’s team is a veteran group. Last year they were one of the best cross country teams in school history, and this year they could be the very best if they are willing to commit to that,” Compagni said. “For the fun of it, we compared the women’s performances this past week to the 2010 team, a group that was perhaps our best ever. The exciting thing is that they are ahead of that group at this point in the year, which tells us that they can have an excellent fall as well with continued focus and work this season.”
That being said, fans can see how well the team is preparing, and from the first early results of this season, the men and women are on track to having excellent performances in the big championship meets, the first of which is the MAAC Championships on Friday, October 31 at Holmdel Park in Holmdel, NJ.
As the top runners continue to train, the younger runners are able to build experience in the collegiate running environment.
“We race conservatively early in the race in groups, and then have them be more aggressive later in the race to even with some of our people not racing, it was encouraging to see that they are ahead of last year as a group,” Compagni said. “Everything for us is geared toward success in our championship meets at the end of the season, but it is certainly valuable to get off to a good start with strong races.”
PHOTO COURTESY of Lifetouch Photography
