By Ann Brunn
Staff Writer
The men’s and women’s cross country teams both finished in third place overall on Saturday, Nov. 2, at the New Jersey Athletic Conference Championship, which Stockton University hosted.
The women had five runners place in the top 13 in the 6-kilometer race. Sophomore Kelsey Kebus led the charge for the Lions with a fourth-place finish in the race, which was good for a time of 23:06:9.
A trio of senior Gabby DeVito and sophomores Jazzlyn Diaz and Emily Prendergast placed ninth, 10th and 11th overall with times of 23:43.3, 23:45.1 and 23:50.6, respectively. Junior Marykate Bailey rounded out the placements for the Lions in 13th.
Junior Robert Abrams was the individual champion for the men’s 8-kilometer race, as well as the first men’s individual champion for the Lions since Andy Gallagher in 2012.
His first-place finish was good for a time of 24:37.09, the fastest winning time since 1983.
The Lions had six more runners claim top-22 finishes. Sophomore William Mayhew placed second with a time of 24:57.5 while junior Matt Kole and senior Evan Bush finished in 13th and 16th place with times of 25:25.0 and 25:37.4, respectively. Senior Mike Zurzolo and sophomores Patrick Mulligan and Jack Ennis rounded out the scoring positions for the Lions.
Both teams will be back in action on Nov. 16 at the NCAA Atlantic Region Championship in Canton, N.Y.
