The 2021 Landmark Conference Men's Cross Country Championships. Photo by Sarah Twiggs.

October 30, 2021

Moravian Captures 2021 Landmark Conference Men's Cross Country Championship

BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian University men’s cross country squad earned the program’s third Landmark Conference Championship and ninth overall conference title on a tiebreaker over Elizabethtown College in the 2021 meet hosted by the Greyhounds at Bicentennial Park Saturday morning.

BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- The Moravian University men's cross country squad earned the program's third Landmark Conference Championship and ninth overall conference title on a tiebreaker over Elizabethtown College in the 2021 meet hosted by the Greyhounds at Bicentennial Park Saturday morning.

How It Happened

The Hounds and the Blue Jays, who have won the last six Landmark Conference title, both finished the meet Saturday with 50 points. The tiebreaker in the conference handbook compares how the five scoring runners did head-to-head with the team with the majority of wins garnering the title. Elizabethtown had better finishes among the top two runners for both squads while Moravian was ahead in the third, fourth and fifth spots to claim the program's first Landmark Conference title since back-to-back championships in 2011 and 2012
The tie was the second time in the Landmark Conference's 15-year history that the tiebreaker has been needed
Moravian Head Coach Jesse Baumann and his staff where honored as the Landmark Conference Men's Coaching Staff of the Year
Freshman Nathan Hajel had a PR time of 26:46.4 on the 8,000-meter course to place seventh of the 94 runners. Hajel earned Landmark All-Conference First Team honors, and as the top freshman in the race, he was named the 2021 Landmark Conference Rookie of the Year
The Greyhounds had four runners earn All-Conference Second Team accolades for finishing 8-14. Freshman Owen Nahf placed eighth overall in a time of 26:48.8 while senior Dominic DeRafelo was tenth in 26:51.0. Freshman Jake Farrell finished 12th in a PR time of 26:57.5 while junior Liam Duffy took 13th in a PR time of 27:05.1
Sophomore Josh Mangini was 26th in the race with a time of 28:07.4 while graduate student Peter Gingrich was 36th overall in 28:36.9
Senior Shane Houghton took 41st in the race in 28:46.9 after being in the top ten for most of the course before a slip on the wet and muddy grass while freshman Geoffrey Kleinberg was 45th overall with a PR time of 28:50.3 and sophomore Casey Frank registered a PR time 28:58.0 to place 47th
Sophomore Brendon Ward was 48th overall in a PR time of 29:00.2 while sophomore Jordan Ford placed 54th in 29:30.1 and senior Richard Glennon took 56th at 29:40.9
Junior Christian Jancsarics recorded a time of 30:21.6 to finish in 65th while sophomore Liam Fitting was 70th in a PR time of 30:37.5 and junior Elias Aviles took 73rd in 31:05.3
Rounding out the Greyhounds were freshman Wyatt Poniktera in 78th at 32:03.7 and sophomore Paul Petre in 92nd with a time of 35:18.5

Quotable from Head Coach Jesse Baumann

"We've seen this effort from our men in practice all season so quite frankly the bigger surprise was that it took until now for the men to show what they were capable of. We altered our tactics from the previous two meets and held back, letting the field dictate the meet more and it really suited their strengths."
"We had so many guys who rose up, Jake Farrell transforming himself from an 800m runner to an 8ker especially today, Nate Hajel had his now trademark close, Liam Duffy has only been able to run about five days since September due to an ankle injury yet was All Conference today, Dom DeRafelo set the tone for our main pack's patience and ultimately their push at about 3 miles. I could list so many more, but it was a tremendous day for the program and we have so much youth for a bright future as well."
"I also want to thank Coaches Jon D'Ottavio and Sarah Hughes for their thankless and often unseen dedication to the team. It goes unnoticed and they too deserve the recognition for what the team achieved today."
"It's a Great Day to be a Hound!"

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