Seton Hall’s cross-country team continued to run past the competition, finishing in first place at the NYIT Invitational for both the men’s and women’s races.
With the win, the men were able to capture a third top-three finish on the season. In the 8K race that gave Seton Hall a meet victory, five Pirates finished in the top six, with nine placing in the top 14. Leading the swarm of Pirates was Jake Simon, who completed the near five-mile race in 24:23.42. Simon earned the title of meet champion for a second time this year, as the senior from Freehold, N.J. continued to bolster the team in his final season running.
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Photo via SHU Athletics[/caption]
Other impressive Pirates were Jesse Southard, who posted his best 8K time while at Seton Hall at 24:27.56, good for second place. Not far behind him was Jared Moser, who finished fourth with a time of 24:57.14. Jeff Larson rounded out the top five of the meet with a time of 25:13.27.
In a similar storyline to the men, a veteran standout also led the women to victory as Christina Rutkowski completely out-paced the other runners with a time of 18:15.50. Rutkowski was a key factor in what was the second consecutive meet victory and third consecutive top-two finish for the women’s team. Rutkowski’s 5K time was 37 seconds faster than anyone else in the competition.
Including Rutowski, Seton Hall placed six runners inside the top ten of the race. Emily Johnson finished fourth with a time of 19:08.89, Olivia Hernandez came in at fifth with 19:20.29, Kiley Britten finished sixth with 19:35.26, Kassandra “Kassi” Yocco placed eighth at 19:53.47 and Emily Hernandez finished off the top ten crossing the finish line at 20:07.94.
The next meet for both teams will take place in Princess Anne, Md. as they participate in the Umes Cappy Anderson Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 23.
Robert Fallo can be reached at Robert.fallo@student.shu.edu.
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