Men's Cross Country | 11/2/2019 4:58:48 PM
PITTSFORD, NY – Utica College used a late rally to win its second straight Empire 8 Men’s Cross Country Championship in thrilling fashion at sun-soaked St. John Fisher’s South Course on Saturday. Utica senior Mitchell Marlow took the individual title, pulling away over the final 4,000-meters to win by 35 seconds in a time of 26:03.5.
Four teams finished separated by just 13 team points. The Pioneers won the 2019 championship with a team score of 49 points, narrowly edging out runner-up Nazareth College by two points. Houghton College was right behind in third with 56 points, while host Fisher placed fourth with 62 points.
Marlow was locked in the lead group with 2018 champion, Tyler Deuschle of Houghton and Andrew Ford of St. John Fisher at the midway point of the race. Marlow used a furious kick over the next 2,000 meters to draw clear and open up an 18 second lead at the 6,000-meter mark. He continued on to draw clear and finish 35 seconds ahead of Deuschle. Ford finished third overall in 26:40.4, just ahead of Nazareth’s Nate McNally (26:40.4). Utica’s Kyle Engelhart rallied over the last 2,000-meters to place fifth overall in 26:54.5.
Chris Celecki of Nazareth, John Vernick of Houghton, Utica’s Hunter Reed, Bernard Daoust of St. John Fisher and Houghton’s Dave Russo rounded out the top-10. All 10 runners earn All-Empire 8 first team honors.
Nazareth led the team rankings throughout the race, building up a 12-point lead before the Pioneers cut into the deficit over the final 2,000 meters. Each of Utica’s scoring runners, Engelhart, Reed, Tyler Stevens and Patrick Murray all made up ground to give Utica its second straight league title.
All teams will compete at the 2019 NCAA Atlantic Region Championship on Saturday, Nov. 16 from St. Lawrence University.
TEAM RESULTS
Utica – 49
Nazareth – 51
Houghton – 56
St. John Fisher – 62
Alfred – 138
Hartwick – 168
ABOUT THE EMPIRE 8 CONFERENCE
The members of the Empire 8 Conference are committed first and foremost to the pursuit of academic excellence and the league is regarded as an outstanding NCAA Division III conference. The membership has distinguished itself among its peer group for its quality institutions, spirited and sportsmanlike competition, outstanding services and highly ethical policies and practices. Its commitment to serve the educational needs of its student-athletes is the hallmark of the E8. For more on the Empire 8 visit
www.empire8.com.
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