College Cross Country
Iona's Meet of Champions
Rider Women 15^th of 21, Men 16^th of 23

BRONX, NY-The Broncs competed at the 15th Annual Br. John "Paddy" Doyle / Iona College Meet of Champions, held Saturday at Van Cortlandt Park. "It went okay," said Rider head coach Bob Hamer. "We went in looking to be top 15. We didn't get out very well and we under-preformed in the first part of the race."

Kent State won the men's 8,000m race. Harvard won the women's 6,000m race. "There are some big time teams here," Hamer said. "The atmosphere here was great. We always want to come to Van Cortlandt before the MAAC Championship."

For the Rider women, junior Chelsea Callan (Hazlet/Raritan) placed first among Broncs, 44^th overall among the runners, covering the 6,000 meter course in 24:22.

"Chelsea ran well," Hamer said. "She was able to do what she has been doing a lot of this year. She put herself out in it and really fought hard the whole race. She's developing into a real nice cross country runner. She's done the work over the summer that is definitely paying off.  She's being competitive."

For the Rider men, junior Michael Soroko (Kinnelon) finished first among Broncs, 57^th overall, covering the 8,000 meter course in 27:02.75.

"Mike ran well," Hamer said. "He got out really well. He struggled a bit in the hills in the middle of the race but came back nicely over the last 2k of the race and finished strong. That's one thing we've been working on, do a better job in the middle part of the race."

Also for the Rider men, freshman Sean McCollough (Plymouth Meeting, PA/LaSalle) was 96^th among the 203 runners in 27:48.43 and senior Robert McCullough (Plymouth Meeting, PA/La Salle) placed 104^th in 28:02.18. Freshman Sean Donahue (Cliffwood Beach/Matawan) placed 112^th in 28:11.98 and sophomore Michael Lindner (Whitehouse Station/Hunterdon Central) was 116^th in 28:16.27.

Rider junior Christian Gonzalez (Somerset/Franklin Twp.), who covered this course in 24:50.29 last fall, could not finish the race Saturday due to a leg injury. "He strained something in his leg today and had to drop out," Hamer said. "That didn't help our team score."

Also for the Rider women, sophomore Heather Giovagnoli (Royersford, PA/Spring Ford) placed second for Rider, 82^nd overall among the 186 runners, finishing in 25:16.28.

Freshman Megan Elgin (Doylestown, PA/Central Bucks East) was 97^th in 25:35.35, Paige McAtee was 104^th in 25:54.54, junior Ashley O'Brien (Edison/John P. Stevens) placed 106^th in 25:57.81, freshman Victoria Lima (Westerly, RI/Westerly) was 108^th in 26:01.27 and freshman Nicole Tassello (Suffern, NY/Spring Ford) was 109^th in 26:02.82.

Rider competes at Lehigh's Paul Short Run October 2

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