CORTLAND, N.Y. - The State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) will have three teams and four individuals representing the conference in the NCAA DIII Cross Country Championship, Saturday November 23. The meet will take place at Tom Sawyer Park in Louisville, Kentucky and is hosted by Spalding University.
The DIII NCAA cross country championship consists of 32 teams (16 automatic qualifiers, 16 selected at-large) and fifty-six individual athletes that are not part of one of the teams that qualified.
In order to qualify for the NCAA championships the teams competed in the DIII NCAA Atlantic Regional championships. The regional consists of 32 teams from the region. The top two, seven-person teams automatically qualify for the championship and the top seven finishers, that are not part of one of the qualifying teams, get selected.
Men's Team Qualifiers
Geneseo - This year's SUNYAC champions continued their dominance in the Atlantic Regional Qualifiers taking home first place with a team score of 30. Geneseo's runners posted an average time of 25:24 and beat second place RPI by nine seconds. Sean McAneny was the first runner for Geneseo to cross the finish, he took second overall in the race only trailing the winner by .2 seconds. Geneseo also had runners finish third, fourth and sixth to help secure that number one overall finish.
Oneonta - Oneonta finished as the runner-up in the SUNYAC tournament this season, they received an at large bid to attend the NCAA tournament in Louisville. In the Atlantic Regional Qualifier they finished fifth overall with an average time of 26:00 minutes. Oneonta's top runner was Ethan McDonald finishing eighth in his race posting a time of 25:29.4 and an average mile of 5:07.6, only three seconds separated him and the fastest runner.
Women's Team Qualifiers
Geneseo - The women's team was also victorious in the SUNYAC tournament granting them an automatic bid into the NCAA championship. Despite already securing a spot at nationals, Geneseo finished first at the Atlantic Regional Qualifier averaging a 22:37 mile beating second place RPI by nearly 20 seconds. Geneseo posted a score of 68 led by Genny Corcoran who finished second in the race. Corcoran trailed first place by five seconds, but finished ahead of third place by one minute and 19 seconds.
Men's Individual Qualifiers,
Sean Kuehn (Brockport) - Kuehn (Central Square, N.Y.) finished second in the SUNYAC tournament. During the NCAA Qualifier, Kuehn finished 13th and posted a time of 25:40.4 with an average mile of 5:09.9. Kuehn was the only Brockport runner to finish in the top 40.
Matt Whitworth (New Paltz) - Whitworth (Pawling, N.Y.) finished 16th in the qualifying race earning a time of 25:42.9 with an average mile of 5:10.4. He was the only New Paltz runner to finish in the top 30 and get a chance to run at the NCAA championship. Whitworth finished 28th in the SUNYAC tournament with New Paltz finishing fifth.
Women's Individual Qualifiers
Emily Cavanagh (New Paltz) - Cavanagh (Warwick, N.Y.) earned herself an individual qualification by placing sixth at the regional qualifier. Cavanagh was one of two runners for New Paltz to place in the top 60. The Warwick native finished with a time of 22:36.7 and an average mile of 6:03.9.
Cassandra Williams (New Paltz) - Williams (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) finished fourth in the SUNYAC tournament helping New Paltz to a second place finish. During the Atlantic Regional Qualifier, Williams finished 16th and posted a time of 23:05.6 and averaged a 6:11.6 mile.
