Molloy University Athletics

Men's Results
Women's Results

BROOKVILLE, N.Y. (Oct. 1, 2016) - Molloy sophomore Brian Michels (Patchogue, N.Y.) found himself crossing the finish line first once again as he won the eight-kilometer men's race of the LIU Post Invitational on Saturday (Oct. 1) in Brookville, N.Y. What Michels probably did not count on, however, was seeing an old teammate as the second-place runner behind him: Molloy cross country alum Conor Gallagher crossed the line just behind Michels in the race. The men's team finished second amongst all squads at the meet; while the women's team did not qualify for team scoring, freshman Emily Martino (Franklin Square, N.Y.) finished in fourth place for the five-kilometer women's meet.

Michels cut the tape---to use an oft-overused cross country expression---in a time of 26:32.70, averaging a 5:20.4 mile pace that bested Gallagher's run by 35 hundredths of a second (26:33.05, 5:20.5 mile pace). Senior Shane Martensen (East Islip, N.Y.) captured an 11th-place showing by crossing the finish line in 27:24.37 while first-year harrier James Finnegan (West Hempstead, N.Y.) led a pack of runners in claiming a 12th-place finishing time of 27:43.04. A triumvirate of Lions crossed in the 19th through 21st spots as sophomore Carey Browne (Patchogue, N.Y.) beat freshmen Matthew Healy (Smithtown, N.Y.) and Stephen Barbaro (Middle Village, N.Y.) to the clock. Browne's time of 28:41.18 was better than Healy's clocking of 28:41.53 while Barbardo crossed in 28:46.13. The next finisher for the Lions was junior Liam Gallagher (Belle Harbor, N.Y.), whose time of 29:06.80 was good enough to capture a top-25 result and a 24th-place finish. Freshman Joseph Hunt (Farmingdale, N.Y.) placed inside the top-35 with a time of 30:36.93 as junior William Lemus (North Bellmore, N.Y.) rounded out the Molloy constituency with a showing of 32:47.01.

In the earlier women's five-kilometer run, Martino placed as the highest freshman runner and third-fastest strider from the East Coast Conference with a fourth-place time of 19:47.94. The sub-twenty minute time put Martino on pace for a 6:22.4 mile split and the Franklin Square native was the first of four Lions to place inside the top-20 of the field. Sophomore Diana Monaco (Center Moriches, N.Y.) ran a 12th-place time of 21:11.94 while senior Tyra Jamison (Far Rockaway, N.Y.) posted a 17th-place time of 21:30.40 at the meet. Second-year runner Gabriella Martins (East Meadow, N.Y.) was 20th-fastest with a time of 21:39.93.

The next and final race of the regular season for the Molloy cross country programs comes on Saturday (Oct. 8) as the maroon and white take to the metropolis of Newark for the Highlander XC Challenge at Branch Brook Park hosted by the New Jersey Institute of Technology.