Iona MXC Places Fifth At NCAA Championship; Kirui All-American

NEW ROCHELLE, NY — The Iona College men’s cross country team finished fifth overall at the 2015 NCAA Division Championship held at E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park. It was the Gaels 13th Top 10 finish at the national championship in the last 14 years and their highest finish since a second place performance in 2008.

Sophomore Gilbert Kirui was the Maroon & Gold’s top performer, crossing the line in 20th place with a time of 30:11.3. Kirui finished the 10,000-meter event with a time of 30:11.3. By virtue of his finish, he becomes Iona’s 16th cross country All-American as the program has earned the honor 22 times since 1988.

Sophomore Chartt Miller was 43rd in 30:30.1. Junior Kieran Clements placed 58th (30:39.7), senior Michael O’Dowd was 62nd (30:41.1) and freshman Liam Dee placed 110th (31:02.4) to round out the Gaels scorers.

Oregon junior Edward Cheserek was the individual champion winning his third straight NCAA meet in 28:45.8. Iona’s regional rival Syracuse was the team champion with 82 points. Colorado was nine points behind the Orange. Stamford and Oregon finished third and fourth. Following the Gaels in the Top 10 were Arkansas, Louisville, Washington, Michigan and Georgetown.

2016 NCAA Division I Championship

Lousiville, KY – E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park

Nov. 21, 2015 – 10k

Iona Finishers

Pl.)	Name	YR	Time
20.)	Gilbert Kirui	SO	30:11.3
43.)	Chartt Miller	SO	30:30.1
58.)	Kieran Clements	JR	30:39.7
62.)	Mike O’Dowd	SR	30:41.1
110.)	Liam Dee	FR	31:02.4
152.)	Brandon Allen	SO	31:28.5
209.)	Johannes Motschmann	SO	32:11.9

Top 20 Finishers

Pl.)	Name	YR	School	Time
1.)	Edward Cheserek	JR	Oregon	28:45.8
2.)	Patrick Tiernan	JR	Villanova	29:11.1
3.)	Pierce Murphy	SR	Colorado	29:37.0
4.)	Justyn Knight	SO	Syracuse	29:46.1
5.)	Jonathan Green	SO	Georgetown	29:49.5
6.)	Jim Rosa	SR	Stanford	29:52.7
7.)	Sean McGorty	JR	Stanford	29:53.4
8.)	Colin Bennie	SO	Syracuse	29:55.9
9.)	Martin Hehir	SR	Syracuse	29:59.5
10.)	Marc Scott	SO	Tulsa	30:02.6
11.)	Jonah Koech	FR	UTEP	30:04.4
12.)	Erik Peterson	SR	Butler	30:05.0
13.)	Jefferson Abbey	JR	Colorado St.	30:05.3
14.)	Thomas Awad	SR	Penn	30:06.1
15.)	Anthony Rotich	SR	UTEP	30:06.6
16.)	Jacob Burcham	JR	Oklahoma	30:06.7
17.)	Grant Fisher	FR	Stanford	30:07.9
18.)	Ernest Kibet	SR	Louisville	30:09.4
19.)	Jerrell Mock	SO	Colorado St.	30:10.3
20.)	Gilbert Kirui	SO	Iona College	30:11.3

Team Scores

Rk.)	Team	Score
1.)	Syracuse	82
2.)	Colorado	91
3.)	Stanford	151
4.)	Oregon	183
5.)	Iona College	231
6.)	Arkansas	244
7.)	Louisville	331
8.)	Washington	345
9.)	Michigan	348
10.)	Georgetown	352
11.)	UTEP	354
12.)	BYU	406
13.)	Furman	423
14.)	UCLA	429
15.)	Oklahoma	432
16.)	Boise State	435
17.)	Eastern Kentucky	446
18.)	Oklahoma State	450
19.)	Minnesota	464
20.)	Tulsa	468
21.)	Southern Utah	477
22.)	Virginia	480
23.)	California	524
24.)	Penn	526
25.)	Michigan State	543
26.)	Washington St.	547
27.)	Virginia Tech	581
28.)	NC State	596
29.)	Florida State	598
30.)	Mississippi	607
31.)	Texas	833

 

 Iona’s Cross Country All-Americans

Gilbert Kirui (2015)

Daniel Clorley (2013)

Mitch Goose (2011, 2012)

Leonard Korir (2010, 2011)

Ryan Sheridan (2009)

Alexander Soderberg (2009)

Mohamed Khadraoui (2006, 2007, 2008)

Andrew Ledwith (2008)

Abraham Ng’etich (2007)

Richard Kiplagat (2002, 2003, 2005)

Harbert Okuti (2005)

Joe McAllister (2003)

Mark Smyth (2003)

Vinny Mulvey (1999)

Ricardo Santos (1998)

Sean McGuirk (1988)

Iona Team Finishes At NCAA Championship

2015	5th
2014	8th
2013	6th
2012	29th
2011	9th
2010	8th
2009	8th
2008	2nd
2007	2nd
2006	3rd
2005	4th
2004	7th
2003	4th
2002	10th
2001	DNC*
2000	15th
1999	9th
1998	23rd
1997	13th
1993	19th
1985	19th
1982	18th

 

*-Did not compete, three top competitors were red-shirted