For the Rider men, sophomore John Smith (Cliffwood Beach/Matawan) placed 14th overall and sophomore Jeff Stead (Fairless Hills, PA/Pennsbury) finished 15th, both earning All-MAAC honors. Smith finished in 26:23.6, while Stead finished in 26:26.2.  “To have two All-MAAC finishers for the men is a great accomplishment,” said Hamer. “That is the first time we’ve done that in a long time.”

For the Rider women, freshman Andrea Campbell (Somers Point/Mainland Regional) finished 12th overall in 23:50, cutting 1:40 off of her previous time on the Van Cortlandt course, to earn All-MAAC honors. “Andrea ran a fantastic race, easily her best race of the year,” said Hamer. “She got out in it early and stayed in the top 10-15 the entire race.
She ran very well.”

“Earning All-MAAC is just icing on the cake,” said Campbell. “It is a great feeling and I’m excited about it.  Today I just tried to run as fast as I could and felt great today.”

Also for the Rider men, freshman Matt Dahl (West Keansburg/Raritan) was 22nd among the 128 runners in a time of 26:58.3, and sophomore Paul Matuszak (Philadelphia, PA/Archbishop Ryan) was 24th in 27:00.7.  It was senior Matt Ciociola (Clementon/Bishop Eustace), however, who made the team and coaches proud today, running a personal best time of 27:34.4 on the Van Cortlandt course to place 33rd overall. “Matt ran the best race of his career today, and we’re all very happy for him,” said Hamer.  “He’s the team captain, and the hardest worker on the team.  He does anything and everything asked of him. He runs 85 miles a week and was rewarded for that hard work today. The other kids look up to him because he works so hard. He’s a great team leader.”

“I felt pretty good today,” said Ciociola.  “I expected to race well today after two pretty good workouts last week, and as it turns out his was my best race. I was able to get out good and worked the back hills in the middle of the race. As the only senior and team caption I see my role is to teach the freshman to work hard, that as long as you work hard  and have tenacity you may not win but you’ll keep improving.”

“A team full of Matt Ciociolas would be a great team to coach,” said Hamer.  “Today was one of the highlights of my career, getting a PR for this course, and the fact that the entire team ran well,” said Ciociola.

Also for the Rider women, freshman Megan Crowe (Philadelphia, PA/St. Hubert’s) finished 35th overall in 24:50.8, freshman Rebecca Riedel (Milton, DE/Cape Henlopen) was 37th in 24:58.3, freshman Kelly Wojciehowski (Fair Haven/Rumson-Fair Haven) was 39th in 25:18.4, junior Laura Carpenter (Englishtown/St. John Vianney) was 42nd in 25:25.7, and senior Beth Bond (Warminster, PA/Archbishop Wood) was 51st in 26:06.6. “I though Becky Riedel ran very well,” said Hamer.

The Broncs run in the Regionals at Lehigh November 12.

Team scores: women Iona 26, Loyola 63, Marist 83, Manhattan 102, Niagara 132, Rider 165, Siena 184, Fairfield 224, Canisius 229, Saint Peter’s 330. men: Iona 15, Marist 73, Manhattan 81, Rider 104, Loyola 130, Siena 163, Niagara 202, Canisius 216, Fairfield 291, Saint Peter’s 299.