The men’s cross-country team was led to fifth place by sophomore Louis DiLaurenzio last weekend at the Cross Country IC4A Championships in Bronx, New York. The women’s team, led by freshman Sammi Ragenklint, placed in sixth.
Saturday, Nov. 23 was an action-packed day for the blue and white. The Hawks end their cross-country season with strong finishes and places at the Cross Country IC4A Championships. Ragenklint was able to finish, as the second among freshman in the race, placing sixth in the 5K with her time of 18:22.
‘’Both teams raced strategically well and moved up throughout the competition,” said Head Coach Mike Nelson. “They showed a lot of heart and resilience. In our program, we talk a lot about racing with intelligence, toughness, and confidence. That’s exactly what they displayed today.”
Ragenklint finishing sixth place is the highest a woman on the Monmouth team has ever placed at the Cross Country IC4A Championships. Ragenklint also set a record for the women’s team with her time of 18:22 at Van Cortlandt Park. This record was set in 2011 by Jennifer Nelson.
The women’s second to finish was junior Melanie Pfennig. Pfennig placed 37th and her time was 19:09. The next two to finish were junior Alyssa Repsher and freshman Jenny Tavares, and they finished with a time of 19:26. Junior Natalie Tavares was the fifth to finish for the Hawks at a time of 19:36.
Pfennig and Regenklint both earned All-East honors for their finishing positions. Monmouth’s women cross country team moved up to fifth from 13th since last year’s race, and their top five average time was 19:11.8. The Monmouth University women’s team time average is now the fourth best in Monmouth history at Van Cortlandt Park.
Men’s Cross Country was led by DiLaurenzio, placing 19th in the 5k with a time of 25:22. DiLaurenzio’s finishing time earned him a top five position in history at this prestigious race.
The next three to finish for the Hawks were also sophomores. James Hoffman finished with 26:05, then followed Carrington Retzios with a time of 26:07, and the last of the three sophomores was John Spinelli finishing with a time of 26:24. The final man in the top five to finish the five-mile race for the Hawks was senior Henry Sappey.
Three sophomores, DiLaurenzio, Hoffman, and Retzios, all earned All-East honors for their finishing times. These three All-East honorees join senior Ryan Rafferty, Kyle Mueller, and Ryan Mitchell as the only Monmouth students to have ever earned this type of acknowledgment.
“I am so grateful to work with these outstanding student-athletes,” said Nelson. “They bought in from day one and made my transition to Monmouth very smooth. We made a lot of progress this cross country season and that is really going to pay off in track.’’
With Monmouth University’s cross country team finishing strong, more is coming up with the Indoor Track season kicking off. The season starts this weekend on Saturday Dec. 7 and Sunday Dec. 8 as Monmouth hosts the meet at the OceanFirst Bank Center Classic.
PHOTO TAKEN by Karlee Sell
