ALBANY, N.Y. --
The
Stony Brook women and Albany men battled a cold day and eight other teams to
victory in Saturday’s America East Championship held at the University at
Albany. For the Seawolf women, it is their fifth consecutive America East title
and it is Albany’s first in the conference.
Albany
and Boston University tied for the top spot in the men’s race with 60 points
apiece but a tie breaker gave the Danes the conference crown. Albany took four
of the top 13 spots and won the breaker because the Danes’ top finisher placed
ahead of the Terrier’s. The University of Maine (69 points) grabbed third and
Binghamton University (90 points) rallied for a fourth-place finish. Stony
Brook (130 points) took the fifth spot just ahead of the University of Vermont
(138 points) in sixth. The University of New Hampshire (146 points), UMBC (201
points) and the University of Hartford (264 points) rounded out the pack.
Stony
Brook tallied 40 points in the women’s race, placing four runners in the top-10
en route to the title. Boston U. and New Hampshire both left Albany as
runners-up, tying with 56 points apiece. Vermont (84 points) notched a
fourth-place finish, followed by Albany (98 points) in fifth and Binghamton
(189 points) in sixth. Maine (214 points), UMBC (233 points) and Hartford (234
points) finished out the women’s field.
Maine’s
Riley Masters set a course record in the men’s 8K race flying through the
course in a remarkable 24:18. Masters won the 2010 championship, as well,
making him the first harrier to repeat as conference champion since fellow
Black Bear, Kirby Davis, accomplished the feat back in 2006. Masters received a
tough test from the rest of the field, especially from Albany’s Chris Burke who
finished second in 24:25 on his home course. Stony Brook’s Eric Speakman and
Boston U.’s Rich Peters went three-four followed closely by Albany’s Paul Lagno
in fifth. Lagno used the final straight-away to sprint past Boston U.’s Pete
Gilmore who finished sixth, ahead of Vermont’s Aaron Szotka, Albany’s Ethan
Clary, Binghamton’s Vasili Papastrat and Maine’s David Currier. Those 10 runners
make up the all-conference team.
Hayley
Green, last year’s fourth place finisher, also set a course record on the women’s
side eclipsing the 17-mark and completing the course in 16:51. Her time was
three seconds faster than Boston U.’s Katie Matthews and eight seconds faster
than New Hampshire’s Sydney Fitzpatrick. Keely Maguire came in right behind her
Wildcat teammate to claim the fourth spot and Boston U.’s Rosa Moriello placed
fifth. In the sixth place was Stony Brook’s Patricia Barry. Places 7-9 were all
within two seconds of each other. Vermont’s Morgan Powers finished seventh
right in front of a pair of Seawolves, Annie Keown and Olivia Burne, who
finished eighth and ninth, respectively. Rounding out the top 10, and the
all-conference squad, was New Hampshire’s Elise Beattie.
The
coaching staffs of Stony Brook and Albany were voted by their fellow coaches as
the America East Coaching Staffs of the Year. It is the seventh year in a row
that the Seawolves coaching staff earned the award.
Next
up for America East squads are the NCAA Regionals on Nov. 12 in Buffalo, N.Y.