Men's Cross Country | 11/12/2016 2:09:00 PM
SEWELL, NJ – The duo of junior
James Bailey (Danvers, MA/Danvers) and senior
Jon Pelzar (Redding, CT/Joel Barlow) earned top-10 finishes, as the RIT men's cross country team placed 11th out of 44 teams at the 2016 NCAA Atlantic Region Championship hosted by Rowan University on Saturday. RIT finished with a team score of 326 points, while SUNY Geneseo won the title with 51 points. Both Bailey and Pelzar qualified for the 2016 NCAA Championship.
Geneseo defeated Liberty League rival Rensselaer, who finished with 87 team points. Those two teams automatically qualified for the NCAA Division III Championship, which will take place on Saturday, Nov. 19 at E.P. Tom Sawyer Park in Louisville, KY. Sixteen other at-large bids will be awarded from the nation's eight total regions.
Issac Garcia-Cassani of Geneseo was the individual winner, completing the 8,000-meter course in a time of 24:15.8, defeating Ben Fazio of Rensselaer by nearly five seconds.
Bailey enjoyed an excellent showing, placing fifth overall out of 326 runners in a personal best time of 24:28.3 to earn All-Region honors and qualify for next weekend's NCAA Championship for the first time. Bailey was seventh at both the 2,000-meter and 5,000-meter checkpoints before moving to fifth.
Pelzar, who was second overall at the four-mile mark, eventually placed ninth in a career best time of 24:43.3. Like Bailey, Pelzar earned All-Region honors and qualified for next weekend's NCAA Championship. It will also be his first appearance at the national championship.
"I am extremely pleased with how (Jon) Pelzar and (James) Bailey competed today," said RIT head coach
David Warth. "Both ran aggressive, smart, and confident. They have really progressed throughout the season and are both guaranteed a spot at nationals. Team wise, we are a little disappointed to have missed finishing in the top-10."
John Mooney (Norwich, NY/Norwich) was RIT's third best finisher, placing 88th overall in a time of 26:10.2.
Evan Feigel (Pittsford, NY/Pittsford Mendon) placed 98th overall in 26:20.0, while
Andrew Chabot (Campton, NH/Plymouth Regional) rounded out RIT's top five, finishing 128th in 26:39.9.
Grant Salk (Livermore, CA/Granada) (26:42.5) was 132nd overall, while
Jay Humphreys (Sherman, CT/New Milford) (26:42.5) placed 146th.
All of RIT's top five finishers recorded personal best times.
The top seven individual finishers from each region not on one of the team qualifiers will also earn an invitation to the national championships. The NCAA will announce the field for the NCAA Championship on Sunday afternoon.
