Top 10 Stories of 2024-25 - #1 Men’s Cross Country Wins Landmark Conference & NCAA Metro Regional Titles to Compete at Nationals
BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- Moravian University is finishing up its look back at its 2024-25 athletic campaign. The top entry in our second countdown of the summer – the Top 10 Stories of the Year selected by the athletic administration – is our No. 1 highlight – the men’s cross country program winning the 2024 Landmark Conference and NCAA Division III Metro Regional titles and running at the national championships.
BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- Moravian University is finishing up its look back at its 2024-25 athletic campaign. The top entry in our second countdown of the summer – the Top 10 Stories of the Year selected by the athletic administration – is our No. 1 highlight – the men's cross country program winning the 2024 Landmark Conference and NCAA Division III Metro Regional titles and running at the national championships.
On Saturday, November 2, the Greyhounds posted the first perfect score in Landmark Conference history by scoring the minimum 15 points to capture the program's fourth straight Landmark Conference title. The Hounds had the top five finishers in the race with senior Owen Nahf winning the 8,000-meter race with a time of 25:18.82 at Union Canal Tunnel Park to earn Landmark Conference Performer of the Year and All-Conference First Team honors as he led the 117-runner field. Senior Nathan Hajel took second while graduate student Cole Stanchina was third, junior Bryan Kerchner was fourth and sophomore Gavin Hefferan was fifth to complete the sweep. Graduate student Josh Mangini finished seventh to give the Blue & Grey six Landmark All-Conference First Tram honorees. Graduate student Casey Frank made the Landmark All-Conference Second Team with an eighth-place finish while sophomore Nathan Moore earned a spot on the Landmark All-Conference Honorable Mention after finishing 17th.
Read the original story on the Landmark Conference Championship at https://www.moraviansports.com/sports/mxc/2024-25/releases/20241102zcly2d.
Two weeks later on Saturday, November 16, Moravian finished with 29 points, placing 32 points ahead of runner-up Rowan University to claim the program's first NCAA Division III Metro Region Championship in the race at Stockton University. With the win in the regional, the program qualified for the NCAA Division III National Championships for the first time in school history as a team. The Greyhounds had six runners earn Metro All-Region accolades with Nahf placing third of the 186 runners with a personal best time of 24:52.0, the seventh best in program history, on the 8,000-meter course, and he was joined in the top ten by Hajel in fourth at a PR time of 24:52.4, Kerchner at sixth with a PR time of 24:56.3, Stanchina in seventh at a PR time of 24:59.9 and Hefferan at ninth in a PR time of 25:06.4 while Mangini was 28th in the race.
Read the original story on the NCAA Division III Metro Regional Championship at https://www.moraviansports.com/sports/mxc/2024-25/releases/20241116qjxov5.
Moravian raced in the 2024 NCAA Division III National Championships in Terre Haute, Indiana on Saturday, November 23 as the squad finished in 22nd of the 32 teams in the meet. Kerchner led the Hounds individually as he placed 99th of the 294 runners with a time of 25:12.4 on the 8,000-meter course.
Read the original story on the NCAA Division III National Championship meet at https://www.moraviansports.com/sports/mxc/2024-25/releases/20241123k1dlyi.
