By Peter Fionilla
Correspondent
The College’s cross country teams cruised to wins in their meets over the weekend, both hosted by Richard Stockton College, building confidence ahead of important meets Friday at Lehigh University.
“We were really top of the field this past week,” junior Andy Gallagher said.
The men’s team got the confidence booster it needed at the Osprey Open 6k, beating second-place Stockton by a considerable margin. It was a solid team performance for the men, with five of the College’s runners placing in the top 10 of the 82-man race and 12 finishing in the top 20.
“It wasn’t a huge meet — we only ran 6k — but it was a confidence booster to get out there and race and do well,” Gallagher said.
Senior Shaun McGeever paced the Lions and finished second overall, with a time of 19:30:71.
“Shaun’s having a great season,” Gallagher said. “He’s really coming together like he hasn’t in the past, when he was more of a track runner. He’ll do big things.”
The College dominated at the women’s NJAIAW Championship/Osprey Open 6k as well, finishing with 12 of the top 14 times.
Junior Cathy Goncalves earned her first collegiate win in cross country with a time of 22:52.13.
All members of the College’s women’s team finished in the top half of the 65-woman race.
“The main thing is going and working as team,” Gallagher said. “We can’t run all our own races. We have to run as a team.”
The next competition for both teams will be the Paul Short Invitational, which is being hosted at Lehigh on Friday. The Paul Short Invitation will be much more of a challenge as it features Division I teams.
Asked about the current mentality of the College’s cross country competitors, Gallagher said, “We’re definitely confident, and our big upcoming meet will show us where we are.”
