LINCROFT, N.J. – The Saint Joseph's men's cross country squad opened the 2018 campaign in winning fashion, claiming the team titles in a field of four squads in both the junior/senior and freshman/sophomore 6k races at the 2018 Monmouth Kick-Off Invitational at Lincroft Park on Saturday morning.
Graduate student Collin Crilly won the individual title in the junior/senior category as the Hawks took the top-three slots and put six in the top 10 to earn 23 points and an average 6k time of 18:59, defeating Monmouth (46 points), Seton Hall (78), and Centenary (120).
Paced by a 5:03.9 mile average, Crilly crossed in a winning time of 18:53.1 to place first in the field of 37. Crilly ran the first sub-19:00 6k of his collegiate career to improve upon his PR in the event by over 50 seconds and to claim his first career cross country individual title.
In their first collegiate 6k races, junior teammates Zach Michon (18:53.4 PR) and John Walker (18:53.6 PR) finished second and third, respectively, for the Crimson and Gray.
“I was really impressed with how Zach and John looked," said Crilly. "All three of us were able to run strongly in the front and able to do it comfortably. We all finished right together in a really good pack, and I'm looking forward to seeing how we can progress throughout the rest of the season."
Seniors Shawn Hutchison (19:04.5 PR), Will Sponaugle (19:13.1 PR ), and Sean Macpherson (19:19.1 PR) went eighth, ninth, and 10th for SJU; Sponaugle destroyed his previous 6k PR by over an entire minute.
Sophomore Matthew Scarpill turned in a fourth-place finish in a field of 32 in the freshman/sophomore category as SJU turned in a score of 32 points and average 6k time of 19:41, edging out Monmouth (34 points), Wagner (70), and Seton Hall (92).
Scarpill led the way in 19:17.3, an improvement on his freshman-year 6k time by over six entire minutes.
Sophomore Bobby Hastie (19:19.1 PR) finished fifth while redshirt freshman George Steinhoff (19:49.3 PR), freshman Ben Bunch (19:58.2 PR), sophomore Dan Mink (20:04.7 PR), and freshman Irenaeus Daly (20:06.1 PR) rounded out the scoring for SJU.
Saint Joseph's returns to action next Friday, September 7 at the Penn State Spiked Shoe Invitational, to be held at Penn State's Blue-White Golf Course in University Park, Pa. The 5.2-mile run is set for 6:15 p.m.
RACE NOTES: All seven of SJU's freshmen in Bunch (19:58.2), I. Daly (20:06.1), Aidan Sauer (20:15.1), Jon McGrory (20:26.4), Zach Smith (20:40.0), Tom Price (21:22.0), and Matt D'Auria (21:58.7) made their collegiate debuts.
