College Cross Country
Rider at IC4A/ECAC Championships
Rider Men 8^th of 24 / Women 8^th of 20

BRONX, N.Y.- The 2009 Rider University cross country season came to an end Saturday, for the men at the 101st running of the ICAAAA Championships and for the women at the 25th ECAC Championships, held at Van Cortlandt Park.

The men placed eighth of 24 teams with the women placing eighth of 20, the highest finish ever for both squads.

"Eighth is the highest we've ever finished for either team," said head coach Bob Hamer.  "Both teams did a great job."

For the Rider men, junior Christian Gonzalez (Somerset/Franklin Twp.) was fourth out of 204 runners, covering the five mile University race in 25:46.

"Christian battled through some injuries from over the summer at the start of the season," Hamer said.  "He is very, very talented and even though things weren't where he wanted them to be at the beginning of the year, he worked extremely hard to get back to where he should be.  He is a tough competitor who can compete at the highest levels."

For the Rider women, junior Chelsea Callan (Hazlet/Raritan) placed 18th out of 192 runners in the University race with a time of 18:48 on the 5,000 meter course.

"Chelsea did a tremendous job all year," Hamer said.  "She put in the road work that she needed to compete at a very high level.  All of that hard work paid off and she has on a consistent basis, been the team leader.  I couldn't be more proud of her."

Also for the Rider men, junior Michael Soroko (Kinnelon) was seventh (26.05), senior Robert McCullough (Plymouth Meeting, Pa./La Salle) was 53^rd (27:17), freshman Sean McCullough (Plymouth Meeting, Pa./La Salle) was 73^rd (27:33), sophomore Michael Lindner (Whitehouse Station/Hunterdon Central) placed 87^th (27:41), freshman Sean Donohue (Cliffwood Beach/Matawan) was 103^rd (27:56), freshman John Hill (Voorhees/Eastern) was 150^th (29:03), senior Phillip Capaldi (Woxal, Pa./Souderton) placed 164^th (29:33) and freshman Josh Frake (Bristol, Pa./Bristol) was 194^th (31:19).

"We had a slow start this season on the men's side but we gained confidence as the season went on and peaked at the right time," Hamer added.  "We re-established ourselves after a tough season last year.  We ran well when it mattered the most."

Also for the Rider women, senior Kelsey Kohler (Southampton, Pa./Saint Basil's Academy) was 18^th (18:58), sophomore Heather Giovagnoli (Royersford, Pa./Spring Ford) was 43^rd (19:21), freshman Victoria Lima (Westerly, RI/Westerly) was 49^th (19:27), freshman Paige McAtee (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) finished 80^th (19:55), sophomore Laura Staples (Horsham, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) was 96^th (20:02), junior Ashley O'Brien (Edison/John P. Stevens) was 113^th (20:26), freshman Jillian Shutt (Lawrenceville, Pa./Williamson) placed 121^st (20:30), freshman Nicole Tassello (Suffern, N.Y./Suffern) placed 122^nd (20:31), freshman Erin Fitzgibbons (Sayreville) was 136^th (20:44) and freshman Kimberly Thompson (Schwenksville, Pa./Spring Ford) placed 137^th (20:46).

"The women's team ran a really tough race," Hamer said.  "We gave away a few spots in the last 1,200 meters but overall, we ran a really solid race.  The women's program has made tremendous strides the last two to three seasons.  The high finish that we had at the conference championships last year really gave them a lot of confidence coming into this season.  We had a really young team this year and the future is really bright for them.  They don't get intimidated by the competition."

-ru-