College Cross Country
Rider Men 3^rd, Women 5^th at MAAC Championships
Gonzalez, Soroko, Callan All-MAAC

RIVERDALE, NY—The Rider men finished third of nine teams and the Rider women were fifth of 10 teams at the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championships, held at Van Cortlandt State Park Friday afternoon. “We ran great today,” said Rider head coach Bob Hamer. “I was very happy the way we executed the race plan. Third is the highest the men have been and that was our goal coming in. We came together as a team today and ran the best race of the season.”

For the Rider men, junior Christian Gonzalez (Somerset/Franklin Twp.) finished 12^th overall among the 127 runners to earn All-MAAC honors, covering the 8K course in 26:49.3. Junior Michael Soroko (Kinnelon) was right behind him in 13^th place also earning All-MAAC honors, finishing in 26:56.9.

“Mike and Chris got out where I wanted them to be,” Hamer said, “just behind the lead pack and they ran well through the middle. They ran very well over the final 2,000 meters of the race. That set up nicely for the rest of the team. Chris ran a smart race today. He almost got out a little too fast but Mike said something to him and held him back. As a group they are working together, which is a key to their success.”

For the Rider women, junior Chelsea Callan (Hazlet/Raritan) finished 14^th among the 121 runners to earn All-MAAC honors, covering the 6K course in 24:26.7. “Chelsea is one of the runners battling the flu but came up big today,” Hamer said. Callan finished 16^th last year, just missing All-MAAC honors.

Freshman Victoria Lima (Westerly, RI/Westerly) placed 27^th in 24:58.7, Freshman Jillian Shutt (Lawrenceville, Pa./Williamson) placed 31^st in 25:03.8, senior Kelsey Kohler (Southampton, PA/Saint Basil's Academy) was 40^th in 25:32.4, junior Ashley O'Brien (Edison/John P. Stevens) was 53^rd in 25:44.8.

“Tori (Lima) ran a great race today,” Hamer said. “I challenged her to fill in the void left by Heather today and she did a great job. She has gotten better and better each race. Jill has never run cross country before this year and did a great job. She really handled the pressure of a conference championship race.”

The Rider women were competing without sophomore Heather Giovagnoli (Royersford, PA/Spring Ford), an All-MAAC finisher last year as a rookie and one of Rider's top finishers all of this year, who had the flu last week and did not compete. “She is still recovering,” Hamer said. “That hurt us, along with a couple others who were sick. It is going through the women's team and it affected us today.”

Sophomore Michael Linder (Whitehouse Station/Hunterdon Central) was 25^th in 27:32.7, freshman Sean McCullough (Plymouth Meeting, PA/La Salle) was 38^th in 28:01.9 and senior Robert McCullough (Plymouth Meeting, PA/La Salle) was 48^th in 28:61.1. “Those three put themselves in the right position in the beginning and did a nice job over the back hills,” Hamer said. “The big key for us is that we finished very strong.”

Also running for the Rider women: sophomore Kristen Perrine (Brick/Brick Twp.) was 54^th in 25:46.1, sophomore Laura Staples (Horsham, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) was 60^th in 26:07.0, freshman Megan Elgin (Doylestown, PA/Central Bucks East) was 62^nd in 26:14.6, freshman Nicole Tassello (Suffern, NY/Spring Ford) was 68^th in 26:34.1, freshman Paige McAtee (Massapequa, NY/Massapequa) was 72^nd in 26:40.3, freshman Erin Fitzgibbons (Sayreville) was 85^th in 27:21.5 and freshman Kimberly Thompson (Schwenksville, Pa./Spring Ford) was 89^th in 27:24.5.

Also running for the Rider men: freshman Sean Donohue (Cliffwood Beach/Matawan) was 66^th in 28:48.6, freshman Greg Wesh (Horsham, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham)) was 67^th in 28:55.3, senior Phillip Capaldi (Woxal, PA/Souderton) was 75^th in 29:24.8 and freshman Kurt Morrison (Deptford) was 93^rd in 30:00.6.

It was also announced that sophomore Michael Lindner (Whitehouse Station/Hunterdon Central), Soroko and sophomore (Sergeantsville) of the men's team and Callan, sophomore (Little Egg Harbor/Pinelands Regional), Kohler, O'Brien, Perrine and Staples earned MAAC All-Academic team honors.Kelli KaelinDavid South

Lindner owns a 3.32 grade point average as a Business major, Soroko has a 3.55 grade point average as a Business major, and South is a Finance major with a 3.50. Callan has a 3.70 grade point average, majoring in Elementary Education/Psychology, Kaelin has a 3.29 grade point average majoring in Liberal Arts, Kohler is also a Liberal Arts major with a 3.37 grade point average, O'Brien is a Business Administration major with a 3.67 grade point average, and Perrine has a 3.82 g.p.a. as an Elementary Education major. Staples has a 4.0 while majoring in Journalism. 

Team Standings
Men: Iona 17, Marist 57, Rider 115, Manhattan 125, Fairfield 141, Loyola 147, Canisius 168, Niagara 200, Siena 266

Women: Iona 27, Marist 56, Canisius 66, Loyola 94, Rider 144, Fairfield 157, Manhattan 214, Niagara 243, Siena 258, Saint Peter's 261 

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