Mariners, Brewers come away with team cross country titles
MILTON, N.Y. – The 2023 ECAC Division III North Cross Country Championships took place on Saturday morning, Nov. 4, with the United States Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) men and the Vassar women coming away with team titles.
Matt Lopez, a senior from St. Joseph’s-Long Island (SJLI), came away with the individual crown on the men’s side, crossing the finish line in 26:56.1. Lopez finished nearly a minute and a half ahead of second place, but just 40 seconds separated the next 10 finishers.
A pair of USMMA sophomores gave the Mariners two of the top three individuals, with Silas Glynn (28:19.7) and Casey Symons (28:24.3) leading a strong team effort. Vassar’s Levi Lilenthal (28:27.3) and SUNY Maritime’s Jake Mundok (28:33.0) rounded out the top five, while Hunter junior Brian Guillermo (28:36.2) came in sixth place.
For the Mariners, senior Lance Clemons came in 14th place as the third Mariner across the finish line, while teammate Alex Burita (29:37.0) finished on his heels. Junior Michael Lyon was the final scorer for USMMA, giving the Mariners a quarter of the top 20 with a time of 30:01.9.
USMMA’s team total of 53 points was just nine points ahead of Vassar, while Hartford (86 points) came in third as a group.
On the women’s side, Vassar (40 points) edged Hartford (44 points) for the team crown in a tight battle, as Hawks took two of the top three and the Brewers claimed five of the top 11 finishers.
Hartford senior Hailey Marcello (24:51.7) was the top individual finisher on the day, with Pratt’s Christina Sancho-Spore (25:00.5) and fellow Hawk Abigail O’Connor (25:36.9) picking up second and third place respectively. Vassar’s Nora Goldberg-Courtney was the first Brewer across, doing so with a time of 25:50.3, picking up her team’s first points of the contest.
A pair of SJLI runners claimed fifth and sixth, as Gianna Dickson (25:59.4) and Marissa Degni (26:03.2) got the Golden Eagles on the board. Vassar sophomore Lily Shimpach (26:08.4) was the next individual to cross the finish, with teammate Clara Wiesler (26:17.9) following suit with a clutch 8th-place finish.
Annie Gilman of Hartford (26:19.6, 9th place) gave Hartford a third scorer, but Vassar saw two more individuals finish in the next 15 seconds to clinch the conference crown for the Brewers. Senior Jordan Norman (26:25.8, 10th place) and freshman Adelaide Nyhan (26:34.1, 11th place) gave Vassar all they needed to close out the day with a trophy, doing so in thrilling fashion.