27 STRAIGHT! Men’s Cross Country Continues MAAC Championship Streak

NEW ROCHELLE, NY — For the 27th straight and continuing the longest active streak in NCAA Division I, the Iona College men’s cross country posted a perfect score of 15 this afternoon to win the MAAC Championship at Holmdel Park in New Jersey.

A trio of Gaels led the front finishing group, all seniors, as Andrew Tario took the extra front step to earn the individual title at 25:25.46 followed by Johannes Motschmann at 25:25.62 and Gilbert Kirui at 25:25.72. Another senior tabbed fourth place as Chartt Miller recorded a time of 25:33.31 to finished next to junior Liam Dee, who registered an 8k time of 25:33.93 to hold off Jeffrey Antolos of Canisius.

Ehab El-Sandali, the Most Outstanding Rookie of the Meet, was the sixth Gael to cross the finish line with an eighth place time of 25:40.14. Christian Alberico tabbed a 15th place time of 26:25.49 before a 26:38.46 time from Alex Carter gave him 20th place while rounding out the top-eight for Iona.

The perfect score with the top-five finishers helped Iona outscore second place Manhattan by 82 points in the final team standings, five points shy of last year’s largest winning margin of 87 points. The total does, however, top the 80-point winning margin from 1994. Manhattan finished 12 points ahead of Siena with 97 and 109 points respectively while Canisius and Marist closed out the top-five with 113 and 118 points. 

With Tario finishing in first place, the Maroon & Gold have won the individual title in 32 of the past 37 races dating back to 1981 that included the winner in the last 16 MAAC Championships. 

Next on the docket for the Gaels is the NCAA Northeast Regional Meet on Friday, November 10 from Buffalo, NY. The race is scheduled to start at 11:00 am from Audobon Golf Course.

IONA RESULTS

TEAM SCORES