Oct. 27, 2007

Complete Results

Stony Brook, N.Y. - The Stony Brook women's cross country team placed five runners in the top-10 on its way to its first ever American East women's cross country championship on Saturday morning. For the men, sophomore Alex Felce (Stroud, Gloucestershire, England) won the individual title to lead the Stony Brook men's team to a second-place finish.

"Today has been seven years in the making for the Stony Brook Cross Country program," Stony Brook men's and women's cross country coach Andy Ronan said. "Great athletes like Jenny Payne, Leonora Joy, and Jackie Nunez to name a few, laid the foundation for a great team win today and do it on our home course made it even more special. I am so proud of this group of young ladies for the effort they put forward today."

Freshman Jessica Hampson (Smithtown, N.Y.) finished fourth (17:58.3) in the women's 5K for the Seawolves who won Stony Brook's first ever women's America East Championship in any sport. The Seawolves finished with 38 points, 28 points better than second-place Boston University who did not win the championship for the first time in four years.

Freshman Holly Van Dalen (Wanganui, New Zealand) was next for Stony Brook in seventh (18:06.6) and was followed by senior Elizabeth Carlson (Lincoln, RI), sophomore Laura Huet (Carrickmines, Dublin, Ireland) and freshman Lucy Van Dalen (Wanganui, New Zealand) in eighth (18:07.4), ninth (18:08.8) and 10th (18:11.3), respectively. Senior Kerry Salzano (Staten Island, N.Y.) and senior Dana Hastie also finished strong, placing 11th (18:16.4) and 13th (18:31.4).

The Stony Brook men's team place three runners in the top-10 led by Felce who won the men's 8K race in 25:32, two seconds ahead of the second-place finisher and just seven seconds ahead of senior Shaun Krawitz (Auckland, New Zealand) who took third with a time of 25:42.3. Sophomore Tim Hodge (Tawa, New Zealand) finished in 26:07.3 to secure fifth-place and he was followed closely by senior Zach Tyerman who placed ninth (26:32.4).

"For the second year in a row, the men's team performance was outstanding., "Ronan said. "They ran themselves in to the ground to try and achieve their goal of winning the AE title, but came up short by just 2 points. The individual title won by Alex Felce was a brilliant run."

Sophomore Daire Bermingham also ran well, coming in 19th at 26:49.7. The men finished the championship with 37 points, just two behind first-place New Hampshire.

"The Stony Brook Cross Country program thanks the Athletics Department and university administration, especially those in the Facilities Office of Vice President Barbara Chernow, for giving our program the opportunity to host the Championship on a great course," Ronan added. "Today was a great day for the athletes in our program, for Stony Brook Athletics and for our University.

The Seawolves will return to action on November 10 for the 2007 NCAA Regional Cross Country Championships.