LETCHWORTH STATE PARK, N.Y. (Nov. 16, 2009) – The Maritime men's cross country team concluded a successful 2009 campaign this past Saturday when the team finished in 34th place at the NCAA Regional Championship in upstate New York. The top 5 teams and top 7 individuals not associated with those teams advanced to the NCAA Championships, which will be held in Cleveland next weekend. The defending National Champions, SUNY Cortland, won the meet. The Privateers were second among the three colleges representing the Skyline Conference.
Maritime was paced by four freshmen: Gabriel Rosa (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./G.A.R. Memorial) (147th/28:17), Sam Rainard (Wheaton, Md./Our Lady of Good Counsel) (174th/28:50), Luke Milano (Wantagh, N.Y./Wantagh) (189th/29:07), and Matt Taraboletti (221st/29:59). Senior Lee Shoemaker (Mt. Wolf, Pa./Northeastern) (224th/30:15), sophomore Tom Moskowitz (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) (242nd/31:21), and freshman Kevin Regan (Green Brook, N.J./Watchung Hills) (249th/32:03) rounded out the scoring for Maritime. The top 5 averaged 29:18 over the 4.97 mile course.
“The men ran well at the NCAA meet,” said head coach Jim Driscoll. “The field was loaded, headed by the last two National Champs. We were the youngest team in the meet. Maritime was the only college to run five freshmen. In fact, only one other school, Oswego, who finished 18th, even ran four freshmen, and only five other colleges ran three. Rosa finished 24th among the freshmen, Rainard 33rd, Milano 38th, and Taraboletti 49th. This team has the potential to be really good in a couple of years.”
The NCAA Regional capped off a successful year for Maritime cross country. The Men finished as Skyline Conference runners-up, while the women finished fifth in the conference meet. Rainard, Milano, Rosa, Taraboletti, senior Gannon O'Brien (Traverse City, Mich./Traverse City Christian), and junior Laura Wasson were each named to the all-conference team. The men also won the Baruch and Hunter Invitationals and finished second at the York and St Joseph's Invitationals. Not counting the postseason NCAA Regional meet, the men finished with a head-to-head meet record of 81-15. Finally, both the men's and women's teams were named the Skyline Conference Sportsmanship Award winners by a vote of the other Skyline colleges.
“By any measure, the 2009 team will go down as one of the greatest in Maritime history,” stated Driscoll. “It was very gratifying to see this team get better as the season progressed and to see that all those miles that were run during the summer and fall paid off. We were led this year by our three senior tri-captains, Gannon O'Brien (Traverse City, Mich./Traverse City Christian), Lee Shoemaker (Mt. Wolf, Pa./Northeastern), and Vince Curcio. Those three really brought our talented freshmen along and introduced them to collegiate competition. We will always be grateful for their contribution to Maritime cross country.”
