Cross Country Races to Second, Third at Highlander Challenge

10/4/2014 9:10:00 PM

Results

JERSEY CITY, N.J. (Oct. 4, 2014) - Freshman Talya Williams (Schenectady, N.Y.), junior Elizabeth Stirling (Wantagh, N.Y.) and red-shirt sophomore Mike Scott (Fultonville, N.Y.) highlighted LIU Post's men's and women's cross country efforts at the Highlander Challenge on Saturday. 

Williams won the 5k with a clocking of 18:10.01 at Branch Brook Park, breaking the program record for a five-kilometer race on any course by two seconds, a mark which she set Sept. 13 at the LIU Post Invitational. Junior Elizabeth Stirling (Wantagh, N.Y.) finished 17 seconds behind the freshman harrier at 18:27.81, placing third and posting the second-fastest time on any course in school history. Freshman Lauren Hoffman (Melville, N.Y.) added a seventh-place run of 19:00.38. That time slots her fourth in the LIU Post women's five-kilometer record book.

Senior Shaylyn Stehl (Wantagh, N.Y.) crossed at 19:35.10, which was good for a Top-15 showing. Senior Brooke Rozea (Syosset, N.Y.) and red-shirt junior Jessica Wiking (Farmingdale, N.Y.) posted times of 19:41.97 and 20:41.69, respectively, rounding out the Pioneer endeavor and helping the green and gold to a second-place finish. The women's team average (18:59) was faster than front-runner St. Thomas Aquinas, and is now the fastest in meet history, beating the initial 20:21 mark. 

For the men, Scott recorded a second-place performance, clocking a 25:25.83. Crossing just a minute behind him, junior Steven Arnone (Staten Island, N.Y.) was 11th (26:24.07). Freshman Ryan Gioe (Huntington Station, N.Y.) and sophomore Tyler McGarvey (Babylon, N.Y.) ran a 27:47.82 and 28:40.73, individually, to help LIU Post to a third-place finish.

Head Coach Rob Morris and the Pioneers' men's and women's cross country teams are back in action next Saturday (Oct. 18), when they race at the Princeton Invitational in Princeton, N.J.