October 6, 2005

LE MOYNE TO RUN AT GOLDEN KNIGHTS CROSS COUNTRY JOUST

ALBANY – The College of Saint Rose will host an exciting new cross country event this Saturday. The inaugural Golden Knights Cross Country Joust will take place at The Crossings of Colonie in Loudonville. The unique event will feature four races, two college and two high school, and will feature one of the only dual starting line configurations the sport has ever seen.

Eleven collegiate teams and 11 scholastic squads will be competing. The collegiate men will run 8,000 meters, while the collegiate women and both the boys’ and girls’ scholastic runners will compete on a 5,000 meter layout. As for the dual starting line, half the field in each race will be separated randomly. They will run toward each other for the opening 200 meters before making the first turn where they will join each other and cover the same course.

The girls’ scholastic race will get the day started at 9:00 am followed by the women’s collegiate race at 9:30 am, the boys’ scholastic race at 10:00 am and the men’s collegiate event at 10:30 am. The awards ceremony is scheduled to get underway at 11:30 am.

Several talented runners should make for an impressive meet. Sophomore Pat Cullen (Staatsburg, NY/FDR) has led the Saint Rose men in three of four events this year while a trio of local products in sophomores Brad Lewis (Troy, NY/Troy) and Ryan Brown (Troy, NY/Troy) and freshman Brian Yurkewecz (Fultonville, NY/Fonda-Fultonville) have also figured prominently in the team’s fortunes.

Cullen was third among 70 participants at the Bryant Invitational in Rhode Island last week. He ran a 28:11.80 over the 8,000 meter course while Brown and Lewis were ninth and 12th respectively. Yurkewecz crossed the line in eighth place.

On the women’s side, freshman Joanne Smith (Monroe, NY/Monroe-Woodbury) ran a season-best time of 20:56.00 to finish sixth among 74 entries at Bryant while freshman Kaitlyn Malloy (Wallkill, NY/Wallkill) and junior Joelle Ingram (Derry, NH/Pinkerton) were 10th and 11th respectively.

As for the rest of the collegiate field, Le Moyne would have to be considered the squad to beat in the women’s collegiate competition. Sophomore Alison Lesher (Sherrill, NY/V-V-S) ran fourth at the Le Moyne Invitational a week ago. Meanwhile, the men’s race is expected to be a close battle. Adelphi junior Jaime Julia-Perez (Amsterdam, NY/Amsterdam) is someone who will be worth keeping an eye on. Julia-Perez was a two-time JUCO All-American at SUNY – Cobleskill.

 

--Story Courtesy of Saint Rose Athletics