BACK-TO-BACK! Women’s Cross Country Wins 12th MAAC Title In 13 Years

NEW ROCHELLE, NY — A pair of freshmen garnered first and second place at the MAAC Championship this morning in New Jersey to help lead the Iona College women’s cross country to its second straight conference title and 12th in the past 13 years.

Freshman Egle Morenaite led the effort for the Maroon & Gold at the Holmdel Park 6k with a 21:20.05 to capture both the Most Outstanding Runner and Outstanding Rookie of the Meet Awards. The Lithuanian native paced at a 5:43.2 mile to earn the individual title and finish six seconds ahead of teammate Sophie Murphy. Murphy recorded a clocking of 21:26.99 to join her fellow freshman to post just three points to the Iona total.

Next to cross for the Gaels was an upperclassman as Daniele Martino claimed seventh place with a time of 21:55.41. Senior Rachel Garn also earned a top-10 finish by finishing exactly 10th at 22:05.20. Niamh O’Connor round out the top five finishers for Iona at 22:14.49 for 13th place. 

Three more Gaels finished with the top-20, led by Julia Kearley in 15th as she crossed the finished line in 22:22.58. Cassandra Gill and Jessica Scheriff were back-to-back in 17th and 18th with respective time of 22:27.09 and 22:28.64. 

Iona finished 38 points ahead of Marist as the Red Foxes edged out Quinnipiac for second place with 71 points while the Bobcats totaled 78 points. Manhattan and Canisius rounded out the top-five finishing teams.

Next on the docket for the Maroon & Gold is the NCAA Northeast Regional Championship on Friday, November 10 in Buffalo, NY. The meet is scheduled to start at 11:45 am. 

IONA RESULTS

TEAM SCORES