The Iona University men and women’s cross country teams participated in three separate events from Oct. 13 and 14 as they rounded out their regular seasons.
Coming off a second-place finish at the Loyola Lakefront Invitational on Sep. 29, three runners from the men’s team represented the Maroon and Gold at the 2023 IC4A Championships at Van Cortlandt Park in Riverdale, N.Y.
Junior Tadhg Donnelly finished 24th place in the 8K race after posting a 24:35.2 time. Senior TJ Harkins and sophomore Jack O’Keefe competed in the race as well, registering times of 25:45.5 and 27:14.2, respectively.
Junior Damien Dilcher led the way for the seven Gaels running at the Wisconsin Nuttycombe Invitational. Dilcher’s 23:55.6 mark in the 8K race slotted him 28th overall amongst the 281 contestants.
Graduate student Joshua DeSouza was the only other Iona runner to land within the top 50 on the day, crossing 38th with a time of 24:02.1.
Fellow graduate Lachlan Wellington tabbed a 119th place finish, while senior Matt Rankin ended up in 153rd as Iona’s fourth leading scorer.
The Gaels as a whole nearly made it to the top 20 among team scores, finishing 21st behind Stanford University.
The women’s squad finished in third place during their ECAC Championship, with three Gaels earning top-20 positions.
Senior Holly Smith paced Iona in scoring as she earned a ninth-place finish in the event. Smith crossed the 6K line in 20:58.5. Sophomore Tayla Gunton was just behind Smith with a 21:13.4 time in 12th place.
Junior Madison Klein was the last Gael within the top 20, sporting a solid 21:28.0 mark.
The women’s team is in good shape after back-to-back top three finishes during their last two meets. This stretch was highlighted by a first-place victory at the Loyola Lakefront Invitational.
At Loyola University’s event, three Gaels slotted within the top 10, including Smith, who placed third.
The Maroon and Gold totaled a team score of 39, which was 33 points higher than the eventual second-place finisher, the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
During the men’s race at the Loyola Invitational, all five scorers landed in the top 40, with DeSouza’s ninth place standing leading the way.
Iona’s next meet, the 2023 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship, is the most important event on the schedule to date. The Gaels’ men’s team won the 2022 MAAC Championship, notching 17 points, while the women finished in third in their race with 65 points.
The competition will take place at Twin Ponds on the Farm in Montgomery, NY on Oct. 28.
