Nov. 12, 2003
FAIRFIELD, Conn. - The Fairfield University men's and women's cross country teams will close out the 2003 season at the NCAA Northeast Regional at Franklin Park in Boston, Mass., on Saturday, Nov. 15. The Stags have been idle since both the men's and women's teams, finishing sixth at the 2003 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championships (MAAC) at Van Cortlandt Park, on Oct. 31.
Saturday's race will not be foreign to the members of the men's and women's squads for Fairfield. The Stags ran in the 2003 New England Championships on Oct. 10.
A majority of the runners for Fairfield posted career or season bests, running against some of the top competition from New England schools in Division I, II, and III.
At the MAAC Championships, the men were led by Bryan Mahoney with a 27:26.3 over the 8,000-meter course. Mahoney finished 24th out of 114 runners. Justin Rindos was second on the team with a 27:54.7, followed by Matt Borland (28:31.5), A.J. Kastanotis (28:52.6), John LaCagnian (30:04.4), Mike Dougherty (30:39.6), Michael Talmadge (30:49.8), and Devin Hagen (30:55.5).
The Fairfield women also finished sixth at the MAAC Championships, and were paced by Shannon Kenefick who found her way through the 6,000-meter course in 23:59 to finish 18th overall. Lauren Wilson was second on the team with 24:42.1, Julie Wargo (24:56.3) was next followed by Cara O'Connell (25:13.5), Taylor Dunn (25:26.7), Cara Muzik (25:39.3), and Liz Casey (26:52.6) closed the books for the Stags scoring.
At the New England Championships, Mahoney led the men's team with a 26:44 over the five-mile course, keeping a 5:26 pace throughout. Rindos was second on the team with a 27:06. Borland crossed the line in 27:42, and Kastanotis registered a 28:02.
The women were led by Kenefick who used a 6:20 pace to finish the three-mile course in 19:43, to break the 20-minute mark for the first time in her career. Stephanie Stote was second on the team, and also broke the 20-minute barrier with a 19:51. Wilson and Muzik were just shy of breaking the 20-minute mark with a 20:17 and 20:33 respectively.
Eight men's and women's runners were selected to the 2003 MAAC Men's and Women's Cross Country All-Academic Teams. Five men and three women earned recognition by the conference. Borland and Jeff Illustrato made their third appearance on the team. Mahaoney made his second appearance, and Hagen and Rindos were first time members. Liz Avery, Colleen Brasser, and Muzik were first-time selections for the women.
