The Iona College men and women’s cross country teams continued their surge as they claimed top ten spots in national championship meets.

After claiming their 23rd consecutive Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) title, the men’s cross country team claimed third place in the Nation Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Northeast Regionals and sixth place in the NCAA Championship.

At the NCAA Northeast Regionals on Nov. 15, the Gaels finished the 6K race at Van Cortlandt Park with an overall score of 81, only three behind second-place Columbia. Syracuse won with a score of 57.

The Gaels had four Top-20 finishers: seniors Matt Gillespie and Daniel Clorley, junior Jake Byrne and freshman Kieran Clements. Gillespie was the runner-up with a time of 30:18.4, less than seven seconds behind the winner. Clorley finished 14th with a time of 30:34.0, Byrne and Clements were separated by one second and finished 19th and 20th, respectively.

Senior Chris Stogsdill finished 26th with a time of 30:46.9. Junior Andrew Kowalsky came in 43rd, and sophomore Ethan Heywood finished 67th.

The women’s cross country team, who had just claimed its ninth-straight MAAC Title, came in eighth with an overall score of 229. Providence took the top spot with an overall score of 44. Sophomore Kate Avery, the Maroon & Gold’s lone Top-10 finisher, came in fifth with time of 20:03.3. Her performance earned her a spot in the women’s NCAA Championship race. Freshman Maya Rehberg came in 22nd with a time of 20:57.1. Senior Kirsten Stewart claimed 36th, and senior Kate Niblock placed 70th.

On Nov. 23, Iona competed in the NCAA Championship in Terre Haute, IN. The men’s team earned sixth place. The Gaels are in the nation’s Top 10 for the 11th time in the last 12 years.

Clorley was the Gaels’ top finisher as he finished 38th with a time of 30:44.5. Clements finished 57th with a time of 30:57.9. Byrne, Gillespie and Kowalsky finished 71st, 92nd and 94th respectively.

Avery, meanwhile, finished third at the NCAA Championship with a time of 20:05.4, only five seconds behind the winner and one and a half seconds behind the runner-up. She is only the second runner in program history to be named an All-American. The other All-American in program history was McKayla Plank in 2006.

The Gaels will look to continue on this season’s success when they race again next year.