Men's Cross Country Set to Tackle Van Cortlandt Park

Saturday, September 9

Bronx, NY

10 AM

Rutgers University

Fordham Invitational

Men's Cross Country Set to Tackle Van Cortlandt Park

Sep 08 | Men's Cross Country

Saturday’s 8K Fordham Fiasco is the first of three races for RU at the famous course in The Bronx

PISCATAWAY, N.J. (Sept. 8, 2017) – Coming off a Lehigh Invitational team title to open the season, Rutgers men's cross country looks to keep the momentum rolling at the Fordham Fiasco/Ed Joyce Memorial on Saturday, Sept. 9 on the 8,000-meter course at Van Cortlandt Park in The Bronx.

The Course
The Fordham Fiasco serves as an important preview race for the Scarlet Knights, who will return to Van Cortlandt Park for the Metropolitan Championships on Oct. 13 and for the IC4A Championships on Nov. 18.

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 Competition
The Scarlet Knights will be racing 18 other teams to the finish, including Division I programs Fordham, Princeton, Manhattan, Monmouth, NJIT and St. John's. Also competing are CW Post, Malloy, Southern Maine, Delaware Valley, NYIT, Manhattanville, St. Thomas Aquinas, College of New Rochelle, East Stroudsburg, New Haven and Pace.

The Expectations
Head Coach Mike Mulqueen: "We are running this race to get familiar with the course. We have several runners that don't know the course, and with two championship races scheduled for Van Cortlandt Park, our main objective on Saturday is to learn the ins-and-outs of a tricky course."

The Last Time Out
Rutgers started the 2017 season on a winning note Sept. 1 by claiming the Lehigh Invitational by the slimmest of margins, using five Top 10 finishes to edge the host Mountain Hawks by a single point.

The Scarlet Knights finished 2-5-7-8-9 for a total of 31 points and an average time of 18:51 on the 6,000-meter course on Lehigh's Goodman Campus. Cole Pschunder was first across for the Scarlet Knights in 18:38.20, and second overall by merely two-tenths of a second.

Junior Conor Murphy was next across the line in fifth place with a time of 18:51.82. Centimeters behind, senior Luke Wiley placed seventh in 18:51.98, the first of three straight point-scoring Scarlet Knights. Junior Dom Munson was eighth in 18:54.94 and freshman Patrick Walsh made his collegiate cross country debut with a Top 10 finish in 18:57.35, good for ninth overall.

The Squad
Junior Conor Murphy led the Scarlet Knights in five of seven meets, including all of championship season in the fall of 2016. 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.

Up Next
Rutgers has a short week leading into the Rider Invitational on Friday, Sept. 15 at Rosedale Park in Pennington, N.J.

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 -