Cross Country Races into Metropolitan Championships on Friday

Friday, October 13

Bronx, NY

1:30 PM

Rutgers University

Metropolitan Conference (5k)

Cross Country Races into Metropolitan Championships on Friday

Oct 12 | General, Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

Male Entry List Female Entry List

Women start at 1:30 p.m., men take off at 2 p.m. at Van Cortlandt Park

Bronx, N.Y. (Oct. 13, 2017) – Rutgers men's and women's cross country enters the 2017 Metropolitan Championships on Friday, Oct. 13 at the iconic Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx.

The Meet
The running of the Met Champs will pit the area's top programs against each other for regional supremacy. The women's 5,000-meter race kicks off at 1:30 p.m. followed by the men's 8,000-meter run. Live results can be found here.

The Course
For the Scarlet Knight men, the Metropolitan Championships serve as an important preview race for the IC4A Championships on Nov. 18, which will also call Van Cortlandt Park home. This is the second preview of the season at VCP for Rutgers, which finished second as a team at the Fordham Fiasco on Sept. 9 with four Top 10 individual performances.

VCP's cross country running trail has been a mecca for the sport for over 100 years. The course opened in 1913 looping throughout the park. The park's hilly geology of Fordham Gneiss outcrops offers great challenges for runners. The steepest part, known as "The Wall," tests every runner's stamina. Starting in the flats of the Parade Ground and circling over Vault Hill, the course winds through the Northwest Woods and ends back at the Parade Ground.

The Men's Competition
Reigning champion Manhattan returns to defend its title, while Columbia, Fordham, Marist, Seton Hall, St. Francis and LIU Post all vie for the top spots. The Jaspers of Manhattan edged the Scarlet Knights last season with 48 points, compared to RU's 54. The runner-up team finish was the best result for Rutgers at the Metropolitan Championships since 2009.

Senior Trent Brinkofski was Rutgers' top finisher in fifth overall, followed by junior Conor Murphy. Seniors Brian Cook and Thomas Slattery return for Fordham after finishing first and second, respectively, at last year's championship race.

The Women's Competition
Rutgers won the Metropolitan Championship title in 2014 and 2015 and last season took third place behind 2016 champion Fordham and runner-up Manhattan. Both the Rams and Jaspers return along with squads from Iona, LIU Brooklyn, Marist, NJIT, Seton Hall, St. Francis, St. John's and St. Peter's.

Current senior Alexandra Juzwiak placed 10th overall while sophomores Emma Bergman and Nadia Saponara finished among the top 20.

The Expectations
Men's Head Coach Mike Mulqueen: "We're trying to win it. With Columbia, Fordham and Manhattan racing near the front, there are some great programs at this meet. We're just trying to get better each weekend. The team had some good results at the Paul Short Run, and we're always working to move up the ranks in the Big Ten and the Mid-Atlantic region. This is another step toward achieving that."

The Last Time… (Rutgers Men)
… Rutgers competed, six Scarlet Knights posted personal records in the 8,000-meter run at the Paul Short Run on Sept. 29, and the team placed 23rd of 40 teams in the College Gold division.

… at Van Cortlandt Park, the Scarlet Knights finished in second place at the Fordham Fiasco on Sept. 9 behind Manhattan. Sophomore Cole Pschunder was the first Rutgers runner across the finish line in second overall out of 47 DI harriers with a time of 26:18.09, just 1.5 seconds behind the individual champion from Manhattan, John Dove.

… at the Metropolitan Championships, the Scarlet Knights produced a second-place finish on Oct. 7, 2016, their best result at the meet in seven years. Brinkofski placed fifth and Munson finished sixth to highlight RU's championship appearance. Manhattan captured the Met Championships' crown, while Columbia secured third place.

The Last Time… (Rutgers Women)
...Nearly all the Scarlet Knight scorers collected personal bests in the 6K Paul Short Invitational on Sept. 29. Seven of RU's runners collected new PR's against a field that featured 367 runners from 43 teams across the nation.

... Freshman Olympia Martin has led RU in all three races to date posting her best finish to date of 21:31 last the Paul Short Run.

The Rank
The men have been ranked 13th in the Mid-Atlantic by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association in the fourth regional rankings of the 2017 season released on Oct. 4. Rutgers reached as high as No. 10 this season in the Sept. 11 rankings.

The women moved into the Mid-Atlantic Regional Rankings by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Association on Oct. 2, entering the poll at No. 15. It was the first time since the early weeks of the 2016 season the Scarlet Knights have appeared in the regional poll.

The Squad
In 2016 on the men's side, junior Conor Murphy led the Scarlet Knights in five of seven meets, including all of championship season. Murphy paced the team in the Big Ten, NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional and IC4A meets, highlighted by an All-University East Performer award at the IC4A Championships.

Junior Dom Munson joined Murphy on the All-University East Performer list following a 17th place finish at the IC4A Championships. Munson led the Scarlet Knights with a sixth-place individual time of 24:57.07 at the Rider Invitational early last season. Seniors Alexander Livernois and Trent Brinkofski were also on the All-University East Performer accolades at IC4A's, and head into their final season in Scarlet.

Brinkofski was honored twice as a junior by the Big Ten as a recipient of the Sportsmanship Award and as an Athlete of the Week following his fifth place finish at the Metropolitan Championships in October.

Mulqueen welcomes five newcomers to the Scarlet Knights this fall, including four freshmen. Billy Hill, Tom Holster and Patrick Walsh are all rookies coming off All-State senior high school seasons. Walsh was also a Group 1 cross country champion. Genaro Anzalone was named an All-American last fall at Christian Brothers Academy, and sophomore Sean Martinek joins the team this year with experience as a Non-Public A State indoor champion in the 800-meter.

The Rutgers women, meanwhile, boast a youthful roster with 11 of the 17 members of the Scarlet Knight roster listed as either freshmen or sophomores.

Among RU's top experienced runners is senior Alexandra Juzwiak, who led Rutgers at the Big Ten Championships and NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional in 2016.

Olympia Martin highlights the freshmen class having won the 2016 NJSIAA Championship.

Follow Rutgers Athletics on Facebook (www.facebook.com/RutgersAthletics) and Twitter (@RUAthletics) for all of the latest news and updates. For specific updates regarding Rutgers men's cross country, follow the program on Twitter (@Rutgers_MensTF). The team is also on Facebook (facebook.com/ RutgersMensTF/).

-RU -