RIVERDALE, N.Y. - After a one-year absence, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Cross Country Championships return to Manhattan College's home course, Van Cortlandt Park, on Friday. The MAAC Championships get underway with the 6000-meter women's race at 12 p.m., followed by the men's 8000-meter race at 12:45 p.m.
The Jaspers last ran at the Metropolitan Championships on Oct. 7, where the men's team placed fifth and the women were seventh.
"At Mets, I thought we had our best team effort of the year," Head Coach Dan Mecca said. "If it looked at the way both of our teams packed it in, we had our top seven men were within 35 seconds of each other and our top seven women were within 45 seconds of each other. That's a great team effort. Now we just need to move both of them up."
Leading the way for the women's team is senior Maria Jangsten (Gothenburg, Sweden), who was named MAAC Runner of the Week for her 32nd-place finish at Mets. Jangsten has been the Japers' top runner in every race this season. Freshman Alexandra Cappello (Scarsdale, N.Y.) and sophomore Meghan Hayes (Brooklyn, N.Y.), who missed last year's MAAC Championships with an injury, are also expected to challenge. The Jasper women boast a deep roster, as junior Meghan Marro (Cherry Hill, N.J.), sophomore Elizabeth Rosenberger (Ramsey, N.J.), freshman Shelby Niles (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.) and freshman Janie Turek (Mt. Sinai, N.Y.) have all been among the team's top five this season.
On the men's side, junior Billy Wilkens (Kenmore, Wash.) earned MAAC Runner of the Week honors after posting a solid time of 27:04 at Mets. Sophomore Tom Voorheis (Syracuse, N.Y.) was Manhattan's top finisher in three of the first four meets, while freshman Anthony Colasurdo (Lankoa Harbor, N.J.) and sophomore Mikael Rojeras (Sala, Sweden) are both capable of competing for the top spot. Seniors Tom Daly (Smithtown, N.Y.) and Zack Price (Warwick, N.Y.) have also been consistently been top-five finishers for the Jaspers this season.
"We really don't have a lead runner (on the men's side) this year," Mecca said. "But we have seven or eight guys, any one of which could be our lead runner. Our women last year finished eighth, and that was a very disappointing result for us. We hope to finish at least in the top five, if not the top three or four, this year with the way our women's group is running."
After the MAAC Championships, the Jaspers take a week off before heading to Buffalo, N.Y., for the NCAA Northeast Regional, the qualifier for the NCAA Championships, on Nov. 12.
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