Posted: Nov 10, 2010
Championship Page
ONEONTA, N.Y.—The SUNY Oneonta cross country program will host the 2010 NCAA Atlantic cross country championship meet this Saturday at Fortin Park beginning at 11:00 a.m. The event expects to have over 600 runners from 48 colleges and universities competing for the opportunity to qualify for the NCAA Div. III championship meet on Nov. 20 in Waverly, Iowa.
ONEONTA, N.Y.—The SUNY Oneonta cross country program will host the 2010 NCAA Atlantic cross country championship meet this Saturday at Fortin Park beginning at 11:00 a.m. The event expects to have over 600 runners from 48 colleges and universities competing for the opportunity to qualify for the NCAA Div. III championship meet on Nov. 20 in Waverly, Iowa.
“One of my main goals when we placed the bid to host the NCAA Regional Cross Country Championships was to bring a major athletics event to the Oneonta area,” said associate coach Matt LoPiccolo, who put in the bid last year while serving as the head cross country coach for Oneonta.
“Now that it is upon us, it couldn’t be more exciting. We have a tremendous administrative staff here at Oneonta and coupled with help from our support staff and the Town of Oneonta, we should put on a great show on Saturday at Fortin Park. It will be an incredible experience for our student-athletes, as well as community members.”
The top two finishing teams per gender overall will automatically qualify for the NCAA championship meet. The NCAA cross-country championship committee then selects the next 16 teams per gender for at-large berths. Only the top five teams in each region are considered for an at-large berth with the primary criteria being Regional performance/place.
Last year, it was Cortland and Geneseo that earned the automatic berths on the men’s side. NYU and RIT were selected as at-large teams into the 32-team field.
The women’s automatic teams were St. Lawrence and Geneseo while NYU, Ithaca and Rensselaer earned at-large berths.
“Our coaching staff, athletes, and campus community are thrilled to be hosting a regional championship,” said Oneonta head coach, Angelo Posillico. “While NCAA tournaments are no stranger to the Oneonta State campus, this will be a first time hosting opportunity for cross country. Fortin Park is a spectator friendly course and will allow us to create an exciting racing environment for everyone.
Posillico added, “After a strong showing at the SUNYAC Championships our women’s team earned a 10th place regional ranking. Heading into the meet and we hope to exceed that ranking and establish Oneonta State as a top program in the Atlantic region. Our Men are looking to break into the Top 10 for the 2nd year in a row after finishing 9th in 2009.”
The Oneonta men had its best finish ever at last year’s meet coming in ninth place overall with 280 points. Five of Oneonta’s top seven from the 2009 championship are with the team this fall led by sophomore Nick Madison. Madison has been the top finisher in every men’s race this season and last week earned SUNYAC All-Conference honors after finishing 14th at the conference championship meet. In last year’s region meet, he was Oneonta’s second finisher overall in 52nd place.
The pre-regional championship coach’s poll released last Tuesday had Geneseo ranked No. 1 on the men’s side followed by St. Lawrence. Both schools competed at the Airfield Invitational and finished second and first respectively. Nine of the top 15 finishers overall were from St. Lawrence or Geneseo including the Airfield champion, senior Dan Ramsey of St. Lawrence.
Rounding out the top-10 in the pre-championship rankings are NYU, Rochester, Ithaca, Plattsburgh, The College of New Jersey, Fredonia, Rowan and Vassar.
Senior Eric Dubois, who is a returning All-Region honoree after finishing 34th at last year’s meet, leads Rowan. Daniel Craighead is a returning All-Region runner for the Ithaca men. The Plattsburgh men will be led by two-time All-American Mike Heymann.
In the USTFCCCA Div. III poll from last Wednesday, Geneseo was at No. 3, St. Lawrence No. 5, NYU No. 9 and Rochester at No. 28. Last year, Cortland, Geneseo, NYU, RIT and St. Lawrence all participated in the NCAA championship meet as representatives of the Atlantic region.
Though not ranked, the big story on the men’s side is Hamilton senior, Peter Kosgei’s attempt to win his fourth consecutive region championship. Kosgei is a three-time All-American in cross-country and was the Div. III national champion in 2008.
The Oneonta women, who enter the championship meet ranked 10th by the region coaches, are hoping to duplicate its ninth place finish earlier this fall at the Airfield Invitational at Fortin Park, which served as a pre-regional meet with many of the top teams in the region present.
Last year the women scored 398 points to finish 15th overall. All seven runners who scored for the Red Dragons in 2009 return led by junior Lauren Brunetto and senior Celia Alterio. This past weekend, Brunetto finished fifth at the SUNYAC championship meet to earn first team All-Conference honors while earning induction in the SUNYAC cross country Hall of Fame.
In the women’s pre-championship rankings, it is St. Lawrence in the top spot followed by the SUNYAC champion Red Dragons of Cortland. The Saints won the Airfield Invitational back in September led by senior Wendy Pavlus, who is the defending Atlantic Region and NCAA Div. III champion on the women’s side.
Cortland will be led by two-time All-Region runner, Alyson Dalton, who was 20th at last year’s race and 19th in 2008. Cortland is also coming off a first place finish at the SUNYAC championship meet 10 days ago, upending Geneseo’s run of 10 straight conference titles.
Geneseo, ranked third in the region entering the meet, was second at the Airfield while Cortland finished seventh.
Teams ranked four thru ten in the region include NYU, Ithaca, Vassar, Plattsburgh, The College of New Jersey, Rowan and Oneonta.
The Ithaca College women have two returning All-Region runners in Jenn Randall and Heidi Baumbach. Vassar will be led by returning All-Region runner Johanna Spangler, who finished 21st at the region championship meet last year.
The Rowan women come to town with last year’s runner-up on the women’s side, Jena Peacock. This fall she won the NJAC title for a second straight year and named Runner of the Year. Jenn Rawls is also a returning All-Region honoree from 2009 for the Profs.
Nationally, St. Lawrence is No. 2 in Div. III entering the meet. Cortland, Geneseo, NYU and Ithaca are all in the national rankings at ninth, 12th, 24th and 31st respectively. The Atlantic Region had five women’s teams on the starting line at the national meet last year led by automatic qualifiers St. Lawrence and Geneseo. NYU, Ithaca and Rensselaer all received at-large berths.
Spectators to the event should arrive before 10:30 a.m. There will be a charge of $5 per car for the event. The men’s race is 11:00 a.m. followed by the women’s race at noon.
For more information about the meet, you can visit the Region championship homepage at:
The meet will also be webcast at the following link: http://www.oneonta.edu/academics/irc/qt/qt.html
