October 15, 2005 - 7th of 11 at Lafayette Invitational

• Click Here for Men's Results
• Click Here for Women's Results

October 15, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

College Cross Country

Rider Men 7^th, Women 11^th at Lafayette

EASTON, PA—On a day when the times were considerably slower than usual due to the muddy course, Rider sophomore Jeff Stead (Fairless Hills, PA/Pennsbury) actually ran faster, finishing second among Broncs and 23^rd overall, helping Rider place seventh of 11 teams at the Leopard Invitational, hosted by Lafayette College.

The Rider women were 11^th of 12 teams, led by freshman Andrea Campbell (Somers Point/Mainland Regional), who placed first among the Broncs for the second consecutive race, 42^nd overall among the 97 female runners, covering the 5800 meter course in 23:25.2.

For the Rider men, sophomore John Smith (Cliffwood Beach/Matawan) placed first among the Broncs, 15^th overall among the 113 male runners, covering the five mile course in 27:10.1. Smith has finished first among Broncs in every race he has run at Rider.

“On the whole the times were about 30 seconds slower than last year due to the wet, muddy course,” said Bob Hamer, the Rider assistant track & field/cross country coach who handles the distance runners. “Jeff ran a nice race and had a big improvement today. He has been minutes faster every race and continues to improve.”

“Last year I ran 29:10 on this course,” said Stead, who finished in 27:29.5 Saturday.   “Jeff has improved tremendously in cross country,” said Hamer. “He has always been more track oriented.”

“In high school I only ran cross country to get in shape for track,” said Stead.  “We were State Champs in both indoor and outdoor track, and that is where my focus was.  My junior year I just missed qualifying for States in cross country, so that gave me the incentive to concentrate more on cross country. My senior year I did qualify for States in cross country.”

Stead uses his strong track skills to help in his cross country races.  “Being a miler, I usually have more speed than the average distance runner, so I try to use that,” said Stead.  “I usually try to hang on until the end and then use my kick and try to pass.  Today I passed about four or five runners in the final 400 meters.”

Also for the Rider men, sophomore Paul Matuszak (Philadelphia, PA/Archbishop Ryan) was 41^st overall in 28:13.3, freshman Matt Dahl (West Keansburg/Raritan) was 46^th in 28:28.0, and senior Matt Ciociola (Clementon/Bishop Eustace) was 48^th in 28:32.0.

“The men ran okay today,” said Hamer.  “We got out well, the first two miles we competed, and we beat some teams we were expected to beat, capable of beating.”

Also for the Rider women, freshman Megan Crowe (Philadelphia, PA/St. Hubert’s) was second among the Broncs, 54^th overall in 24:48.4.  Junior Laura Carpenter (Englishtown/St. John Vianney) was 56^th in 24:58.5, senior Beth Bond (Warminster, PA/Archbishop Wood) was 59^th in 25:28.1, junior Jennifer Lee (Mt. Laurel/Lenape) was 61^st in 25:54.0 and freshman Rebecca Riedel (Milton, DE/Cape Henlopen) was 62^nd in 25:56.9).

Rider competes in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championships October 28. “That’s what we’ve been training for all year,” said Stead. “My times have dropped every race, and hopefully they haven’t stopped dropping yet. I set goals each race, in terms of place and time, and I’ve been pretty close to my goals each race.”

Hopefully Jeff will reach those goals at the MAAC Championships.

-RU-

Team scores:
Men: Columbia 20, San Francisco 109, UMBC 121, Princeton 125, Lafayette 127, Seton Hall 165, Rider 173, Rutgers 180, La Salle 188, Monmouth 209, Saint Peter’s 352

Women: Princeton 47, Stony Brook 63, Columbia 64, Lafayette 91, San Francisco 137, Rutgers 139, Monmouth 187, UMBC 242, Seton Hall 267, La Salle 267, Rider 272, Saint Peter’s 378