September 15, 2007 - Rider Wins Bronc Invitational / Wojciehowski 3rd out of 51
September 15, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
College Cross Country
Rider Sweeps Bronc Invitational
LAWRENCEVILLE—Both the Rider University men’s and women’s cross country teams placed first of four at the Bronc Invitational Saturday morning. “It was great today,” said Rider coach Bob Hamer. “We weren’t really expecting that from the women’s side, but the men were talking about coming together and making a statement and today we did that.”
For the Rider men (18), junior Matt Dahl (West Keansburg/Raritan) won the 5.0 mile race in 25:51.40. This was the second time Dahl has finished first among the Broncs in a race, after being the first Bronc to finish the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship race last fall.
Dahl set the pace for the first four finishers all wearing the new Rider logo. Freshman Christian Gonzalez (Somerset/Franklin Twp.) was second (25:52.50), perennial top Rider finisher senior John Smith (Cliffwood Beach/Matawan) was third (25:59.00) and freshman Michael Soroko (Kinnelon) was fourth (26:04.10).
“The race went according to plan,” Dahl said. “We’ve been talking about running as a group since summer training and today we had the front four together pretty much the entire race.”
“That was a big surprise,” Hamer said. “We knew one of those guys had a chance to win and I thought we might be able to get a second or a third as well but 1-2-3-4 was great, and we had a shot at fifth for a while” Rider senior Jeff Stead (Fairless Hills, PA/Pennsbury) finished eighth (26:19.70) among the 58 runners.
“Matt came out of high school very talented and has trained hard,” Hamer said. “He’s had some ups and downs in his career, but that is part of being a distance runner.” Hamer should know, being a two-time All-American and a former Big Ten Conference 5,000 meter champion at Penn State.
“The men have some lofty goals this year and today they went out to show they can achieve what they are looking for,” Hamer said.
For the Rider women (34) junior Kelly Wojciehowski (Fair Haven/Rumson Fair Haven) placed third among the 51 runners, covering the 3.1 mile course in 19:21.60. “Wojo’s just tough,” Hamer said. “She the ultimate competitor.”
“We were hoping to win today. Did we win?” Wojciehowski asked before the official results were posted. “We knew Rutgers was going to be hard to beat.”
Rider freshman Chelsea Callan (Hazlet/Raritan) was fourth (19:33.50) in her first race at home. “Chelsea is doing a great job for us as a freshman and will get even better results in the future,” Hamer said. “She has tremendous potential. You hate to get too excited about freshmen this early, but we knew she was a competitor coming in and would make an impact.”
Junior Megan Crowe (Philadelphia, PA/St. Hubert’s) was fifth (19:35.70) and sophomore Lauren Lester (Schenectady, NY/Mohonasen) placed 10th (19:57.80). “The women showed up and competed today,” Hamer said. “We’ve been trying to run more as a pack and I thought we did that well today,” Wojciehowski said.
For the Siena women (53) Brina Seguine placed second (19:18.10) and Andrea Hollinger placed eighth (19:44.40). “Siena beat us by close to 40 points last week (Fordham Invitational) and we came back head to head and really took them down,” Hamer said.
For the Rutgers women (55), Cheyenne Ogletree was sixth (19:40.00) and Alison Caruana was seventh (19:41.00). “A couple of the Rutgers women went the wrong way at one point in the race, which is unfortunate,” Hamer said. “How much of a barring that had on the outcome, I’m not sure.”
For Seton Hall (80) Kerry Cahill won the women’s race in 19:04.70.
For the Rutgers men (37) Alex Palmentieri was fifth (26:06.50), Simon Gordonov was sixth (26:07.00) and Nick Miehe was seventh (26:12.30).
For Seton Hall (82) Pawel Kornazewski was 12th (26:33.40) and Thomas Corona was 14th (26:40.00). For Siena Jed Turnbull was 17th (27:23.80).
The Bronc Invitational is the only home cross country meet of the season. “The whole women’s soccer team was out here cheering for us,” Wojciehowski said, “so that was great, and all of our families are here and our friends are here. The rest of the track team is here and that helps a lot.”
“Our course is easy because there are no hills,” Hamer said. “We might have faster times at Lehigh, but that is usually because of the high level of competition. Our course is fair.”
“It’s flat, but that doesn’t make it any easier,” Wojciehowski said. “It’s still hard, but a little faster.”
After overnight rain the sun came out just in time for the lone home meet. “I think every time I schedule a meet it rains,” Hamer said. “But today it cleared up and the course was in great condition.”
“The course was good,” Wojciehowski said. “We’re so used to running on it we know where every turn, corner and root is in the woods, so running here is an advantage.”
“This is course is not bad,” Dahl said. “It’s not hilly like Van Cortlandt or rolling hills like Penn State, but we’ve been running on it so we’re used to it. The conditions were perfect for a cross country race. Last week it was hot and humid.”
“It’s fun being home,” Hamer said. “It gives us a chance to run in front of our fans and showcase what we can do.” There was much to showcase Saturday, especially the new Rider logo on the first four runners of the men’s race.
“I ran this summer with the idea to be up with (John) Smith this year, and with the two new young guys, anyone can be first, and we proved that today,” Dahl said. “This is what we want to do, run as a team and not worry who finishes first.”
As long as they are wearing the new Rider logo.
Rider travels to Lehigh’s Paul Short Invitational September 28.
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