Ricci finishes 23rd overall as cross country competes at the Metropolitan Championships

[caption id="attachment_11392" align="alignnone" width="660"] Seton Hall Athletics[/caption]   The Seton Hall men’s and women’s cross country teams competed in the Metropolitan Championships at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx on Friday, with the men’s team finishing seventh and the women’s team finishing ninth, each out of 14 teams. For the men, the Pirates were led by junior Victor Ricci, who finished 23rd overall out of 114 runners at the meet with a time of 27:31.4 at the five-mile course. Ricci recorded his second team-leading time of the year and was the only Pirate to finish in the top 25 for the men. Sophomore Louis Bustamante clocked in second for the Hall and 40th overall with a time of 27:58.5 to give the Pirates two sub 28-minute runners on the day. Sophomore Jeff Larson finished not too far behind with a time of 28:25.9, giving the Pirates three finishers in the top 50. Other notable finishes on the day for Pirates included Sean Kip finishing 51st at 28:38.6, Jake Simon in 57th at 28:41.0, and Alex Mallue clocking in at 29:03.7 in 69th. On the women’s side, Seton Hall looked to both a veteran and a newcomer to lead the way. Junior Desyre Blackburn led the team, finishing in 40th out of 122 runners on the 5K course, with a time of 20:35.9. Freshman Kiley Britten finished right behind her, in 41st at 20:37.0 and second on the team for the fourth time. Sophomore Emily Johnson would come in for the Hall at 21:02.1, just outside of the top 50 on the day. Sophomore Bailey Seach would finish the course in 22:30.5, and senior Bri Miller finished right after her, clocking in at 22:39.2. The women would finish the day with a combined score of 246 points, and the men completed the day with a final combined score of 198 points. Seton Hall will return to action again in the Empire State next Sunday, Oct. 18, at the St. John’s Cross Country Fall Festival in Queens.   Matt Lamb can be reached at matthew.lamb@student.shu.edu