A cool 39 degrees, sunny skies, and a damp course from the past evening’s rainfall were the makings for “true” cross country conditions at today’s NCAA Division I Northeast Regionals at Van Cortland Park in the Bronx. Forty women’s teams and forty men’s teams toed the line hoping to be a part of the select few that would punch their tickets to nationals in Terre Haute. For some, tickets were punched by the skin of their teeth- a long and hard fought battle across the 6k and 10k courses. Others, like Katie Avery of Iona College made the win seem effortless. Avery led the 6k course wire-to-wire finishing in 19:49.45. Avery’s teammate Rosie Clarke was second crossing the line in 20:12.84, while Laura Sara of UConn was third in 20:13.99 respectively.

On the men’s side, it was another Iona victory when senior Jake Byrne completed the 10k course in 30:26.12, Benjamin Connor of Providence was second in 30:29.12, and Kevin Dooney of Yale rounded out the top three finishing in 30:30.12.  

It was a good show for the Iona (91) and Providence (128) women’s programs, who punched their team tickets. On the men’s side Syracuse dramatically (45) edged out Providence (48) by three points for the men’s team title. The top two teams from each NCAA regional meet automatically qualified for Nationals. In total, there will be 18 teams from each gender that will qualify and make their pilgrimage to the mid-western mecca of cross-country.  The remaining teams and individuals will be selected and gain at-large bids. Those results will be made official by Saturday November 15th 3:00PM ET. NCAA Championships will be held next weekend in Terre Haute, IN on November 22nd.

More photos and athlete interviews here: bit.ly/11oUSL9