KINGSVILLE, MD — On Saturday afternoon, the NJIT men's and women's cross country teams took part in their third running of the America East Cross Country Championships since joining the conference in July 2020.
The 2022 event, hosted by UMBC and ran at Jerusalem Mill Park, saw the Highlanders produce three top-50 finishers between the two teams
TEAM RESULTS
Highlander Men (8K): 9th - 233 points | 2:12:55 total time | 26:35 average time
Highlander Women (5K): 9th - 270 points | 1:43:42 total time | 20:44 average time
MEET ANALYSIS FROM HEAD COACH JASON MUNSCH
"Today was the moment that we have been building towards all fall. Our goal all season has been to be at our best when it mattered most and today we accomplished that goal. Cross country is very unique because, unlike other sports, including track, no two courses are the same. The championship course at Jerusalem Mill that we raced on today was a true cross country course with some challenging hills and all grass. It was a tough course so when I look at today's performances compared to what we have done the rest of the season, we definitely had our best day today.
For the men, Dave Essel was phenomenal. Not only did he post our fastest time of the day but he set a new personal best by 15 seconds and did it on a tough course.
Anthony Dvorsky also had what I would consider to be his best collegiate race as he was only 11 seconds off of his personal best, which was set on our home course at Branch Brook, which is a completely flat course.
For the women, Kat Castano continued her amazing season with the second fastest time of her career behind her personal best, also set at Branch Brook a few weeks ago. It's also important to look at our growth as a program from last season. All of our returners posted better times at this year's championship compared to last year's championship, which was held on a flat, faster course. Most notably is Kat's massive jump from 20:18 a year ago to 19:00 today.
Our ultimate goal as a team this season was to have everyone run personal bests and to improve as runners and competitors. It was never about team place. I can confidently say that we accomplished that goal. We are in a great place as we transition into the indoor track season, which should be a historic season for our program."
TOP FINISHERS
- David Essel: 34th overall (25:45.4 | 5:10.9 average mile)
- Improvement from 2021 top finisher Anthony Dvorsky (50th overall; 26:03.6 | 5:14.5 average mile)
- Katherine Castano: 44th overall (19:00.7 | 6:07.1 average mile)
- Improvement from 2021 top finisher Cassandra Raia (68h overall; 19:31.5 | 6:17.0 average mile)
OTHER TOP 50 FINISHERS
YEAR-OVER-YEAR COMPARISON
- Men's team improved on total team time (2:13:19 to 2:12:55) and average time (26:39 to 26:35) from 2021
- Women's team's times were close to 2021's (1:42:54 to 1:43:42 total time; 20:34 to 20:44 average time)
PERSONAL BESTS
