The men’s and women’s cross country teams finished out their seasons this past weekend in Bethlehem as they competed in the NCAA District Championships.
The race came after the women’s team had a strong showing at the Patriot League Championship to conclude its in-league competition.
“The team is really proud of what we accomplished this season,” sophomore Kira Marr said. “We placed exactly where we were aiming for in Patriot Leagues.”
At the district competition, the men finished 21st out of 26 teams in the 10k race and the women came in at 25th out of 27 teams in the 6k race with a few standout runners setting personal records.
On the men’s side, junior Emil Arangala secured the highest position for the Leopards with a 61st-place finish in a personal record time of 31:13.3.
“I noticed how strong and engaged [Arangala] looked,” sophomore and women’s top finisher Liz Borah said. “Even at the end after 6.2 miles, he still looked determined and powerful.”
Titan Casey and Justin Brown, both sophomores, finished at 32:14.6 and 32:31.9, earning 111th and 125th respectively. Seniors Sam Fowler and Sean Hamilton followed with finishes in 126th (32:42.3) and 147th (33:14.2). Sophomore Francis Dougherty rounded out the men’s top six in 166th (34:02.6).
For the women, Borah continued her streak as the team’s top finisher for the sixth straight meet. She led the Maroon and White with a time of 21:49.2 for a 98th place finish.
“I was very happy with my performance this season,” Borah said. “I had a really positive mentality going into each race and had so much fun competing with my team.”
Senior Emma Lorey came in at 124th (22:09.8), a personal record time for her final race cross country for the Leopards.
Marr placed 157th coming in at 22:56.7, marking her first sub-23 finish. She was followed by junior Casey MacElhiney and freshman Ava Severino, who came in 181st (23:52.9) and 183rd (24:01.5), respectively. The women’s top seven finishers were rounded out by sophomore Carolina McCloskey in 185th (24:13.9) and junior Maura Timoney in 186th (24:26.3).
The weekend’s top finishers included Princeton with a win for the men’s side and Georgetown who took home the women’s team title. Villanova had a standout weekend as well with the top finishers overall on both sides.
This race marked the end of the Leopards’ cross country season, but all athletes will return in the winter as distance runners for the track and field team.
“Coming off of a strong [cross country] season gives us a lot of confidence to run fast indoor,” Lorey said.
The track and field team will kick off its indoor season at Bucknell on Dec. 2.
