Pioneers Men Finish 4th at NYSCTC Championships, Women 10th

The Alfred State men's cross country team ran to a 4th place finish at the NYSCTC Championships held at St. John Fisher on Saturday. The Pioneers were led by Keith Johnson (Webster Thomas) who was named the men's rookie of the year.

Johnson was the top freshmen finisher in the field of 120 runners. He finished 7th to claim rookie of the year and 1st team All-Conference honors. He crossed the finish line of the 8k course in 26:24.8 (5:19).

Jacob Hanss (East Rochester) was 34th (27:54.7), Jordan Rusek (Williamsville East) was 35th (27:56.4), Jonathan Pearl (Campbell Savona) was 68th (29:10.3), and Umang Dharamshi (Roy Ketcham) was 72nd (29:32.9).

The Pioneers scored a 181 in the meet and trailed only St. Lawrence (26), Hamilton (53), and Ithaca (55). RIT was 5th (181), Utica 6th (185), Rochester 7th (188), Union 8th (194), St. John Fisher 9th (213), Nazareth 10th (283), and Alfred University 11th (297).

On the women's side, Lindsey Thiel (Liverpool) led the Lady Pioneers with a 49th place finish of the 6k course (25:39.6). Cassandra Ryan (Gloversville) was 103rd (29:52.7), Brianna Brynes (Jordan Elbridge) was 105th (30:22.2), and Kelly Healy (Maple Hill) was 109th (30:59.9).

The Lady Pioneers finished with 295 points and in 10th place. St. Lawrence won the women's championship with a score of 20 followed by Ithaca (69) and Rochester (92).

Alfred State has just under two weeks until they compete at the 2014 USCAA Championships in Syracuse (Nov. 7th).