After recording one of their greatest seasons in the programs’ history, Iona’s men cross-country squad ended the year on a sour note with a 29th place finish in the NCAA Championships.

Much was expected of the cross-country team heading into the Louisville-based championship.

The Gaels had just come off of their first Northeastern regional championship since 2008 and were the subject of a feature story by ESPN.

The Gaels also claimed their 22nd consecutive MAAC championship in cross-country, the longest conference title streak by any Division I school in any sport.

In the lead-up to the championships, much was expected of the Gaels. Graduate student Mitch Goose finished first in the Northeast regional 10k with a time of 30:04.5

Four other Gaels joined Goose among the top 20 finishers in the race, including Junior Daniel Clorley (fourth), sophomore Jake Byrne (eighth), junior Matthew Gillespie (13th) and red shirt freshman Mike O’Dowd (19th).

Iona’s strong performance caused their ranking to rise from fourth to second on the eve on the championship.

That rise in the rankings caused expectations to rise for a squad that was slowing down.

Heading into the final, the Gaels lost both Gillespie and senior Matt Bayley to injuries.

The injuries to the two runners crippled the Gaels’ chances and caused them to finish in a disappointing 29th place. This is the lowest spot that the Gaels finished in the NCAA Championships since 2001.

Goose led the way for the Gaels with a 23rd place finish in the race with a time of 29:48.7 in the 10k.

The other runners who competed were Byrne (163rd), sophomore Andrew Kowalsky (169th), Clorley (178th), O’Dowd (229th) and senior Chris Stogsdill (235th).

Following the race, coach Ricardo Santos summarized up the disappointing loss to lohud.com, claiming, “it just wasn’t our day.”