SAYVILLE, N.Y. (Sept. 2, 2016) - Kicking off the season on Thursday (Sept. 1), the Molloy cross country programs claimed both team and individual victories at the St. Joseph's College Friends and Alumni Invitational at Broadway Avenue Park in Sayville. Sophomore
Brian Michels (Patchogue, N.Y.) claimed an easy win in the men's 6K race and junior
Katie Michta (Nesconset, N.Y.) reigned supreme in the women's 4K run to lead the Lions.
Michels set a blistering pace in his return to the cross country course after being the East Coast Conference Rookie of the Year in 2015; the sophomore crossed the finish line in 20 minutes and 31.9 seconds, posting a five-and-a-half minute mile pace. Michels outpaced the second-place runner from St. Joseph's College by almost a full six seconds. Senior
Shane Martensen (East Islip, N.Y.) was seventh among the 39-runner field in a time of 21 minutes and 14 seconds flat, but he earned six points on account of an earlier finisher being an alumnus and not a collegiate competitor. The race proved to be a major welcoming party for four of the Lions' freshman runners, however, as the debutants did well in their first meet.
James Finnegan (West Hempstead, N.Y.) finished in 11th place (21:42.7) to lead a parade of harriers that included fellow first-years
Joseph Hunt (Farmingdale, N.Y.) (12th place, 21:43.7) and
Stephen Barbaro (Middle Village, N.Y.) (13th place, 21:47.8). Rounding out the finishers in the top-half of the 39-runner field was freshman
Matthew Healy (Smithtown, N.Y.), as he clocked an 18th-place time of 22:30.9.
In the earlier women's race, Michta left little doubt about the outcome and also left all other competitors in the dust. Her 4K time of 15 minutes and 54.5 seconds outclassed the nearest competitor by nearly ten full seconds, and her mile pace of 6:24.0 bested the second-place finisher by four seconds of time. In what proved to be a monumental race for the Lions, all members of the squad finished inside the top-half of the field. Freshman
Emily Martino (Franklin Square, N.Y.) opened her collegiate campaign with a fifth-place showing in a time of 16:42.8 and sophomore
Diana Monaco (Center Moriches, N.Y.) crossed the line just behind her teammate in sixth place (17:04.3). Junior
Nicole Hubert (Middle Village, N.Y.) collected a top-ten finish by clocking a ninth-place time of 17:31.6 while senior
Kelly Mackay (Levittown, N.Y.) and sophomore
Gabriella Martins (East Meadow, N.Y.) finished in 12th and 14th place, respectively.
The Lions will look to keep up the momentum next weekend as the squads take to Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx for the Fordham Fiasco on Saturday (Sept. 10).
