November 2, 2024
No. 30 Greyhounds Win Fourth Straight Landmark Conference Title with Perfect Score
LEBANON, Pa. --- The No. 30 Moravian University men’s cross country squad captured its fourth straight Landmark Conference Championship with a perfect score of 15 points at the 2024 race hosted by Elizabethtown College at Union Canal Tunnel Park Saturday.
LEBANON, Pa. --- The No. 30 Moravian University men's cross country squad captured its fourth straight Landmark Conference Championship with a perfect score of 15 points at the 2024 race hosted by Elizabethtown College at Union Canal Tunnel Park Saturday.
How It Happened
- The Greyhounds had the lowest score possible with just 15 points by taking the top five positions in the meet while the host Blue Jays were second with 67 points and Susquehanna University took third with 99 points
- The Hounds' perfect score is the first time in Landmark Conference history that the winning team had the minimum possible 15 points
- Moravian has now won six total Landmark Conference Championships since the conference began in 2007 with titles in 2011, 2012, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024
- Senior Owen Nahf won the 8,000-meter race with a time of 25:18.82 to earn Landmark Conference Performer of the Year and All-Conference First Team honors as he led the 117 runner field
- Senior Nathan Hajel was second in 25:18.97 while graduate student Cole Stanchina was third at 25:19.23, junior Bryan Kerchner took fourth in 25:19.98 and sophomore Gavin Hefferan placed fifth in 25:25.22 as all four runners earned spots on the Landmark All-Conference First Team
- Graduate student Josh Mangini also made the Landmark All-Conference First Team with a seventh-place finish in a time of 25:33.41 while graduate student Casey Frank was named to the All-Conference Second Team with an eighth place showing in 25:39.05
- Sophomore Nate Moore made the Landmark All-Conference Honorable Mention squad after placing 17th in 25:55.50
- Freshman Riley Trigo finished 24th in 26:32.91 while senior Jake Farrell was 28th at 26:38.92 and freshman Jake Mattes took 29th in a time of 26:40.92
- Freshman Charles Champagne was one spot back in 30th in 26:41.61 while senior Geoffrey Kleinberg placed 33rd with a time of 26:46.96
- Sophomore Logan Betyeman finished 35th in the race with a time of 26:53.75 while freshman Grayson Kerzmann took 42nd in 27:14.25
- Rounding out the Moravian runners were junior Jackson Royds in 60th at 28:04.13, sophomore Michael Schippnick in 77th at 29:19.50, sophomore Adam Plummer in 79th in 29:33.85, sophomore Xander DiMatteo in 81st in a time of 29:39.41, junior Jackson Gaffney in 88th at 30:19.03, sophomore Will Weinlein in 101st in 31:51.97, sophomore Jordan Gagner in 102nd at 31:52.15, sophomore Dylan Benbow in 105th at 32:16.55 and senior Wyatt Poniktera in 113th at 33:48.99
Quotable from Director of Cross Country and Track & Field Jesse Baumann
- "We knew the men had the potential to have a really good day, but you still have to execute on that day. And fortunately for us, our men did and had a great race. We had 14 men break 27 minutes when a couple of years ago we hardly had even one. The men's team depth was phenomenal today, and we're obviously ecstatic with how we're able to get seven guys in the top eight finishers of the entire field. We're very proud of how the guys did, and we're hoping we can carry this momentum into regionals two weeks from today."
Up Next for the Greyhounds
- Saturday, November 16 at 2024 NCAA Division III Metro Regional hosted by Stockton (N.J.) University, 12:00 p.m.
- Saturday, November 23 at 2024 NCAA Division III National Championships hosted by Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Ind. (if qualify), 12:00 p.m.
