Stony Brook Cross Country Team Finishes Second in CAA Championship

Stony Brook University athletes secured a place in the NCAA Northeast Regionals after their men’s cross country team finished second in the Conference on America East (CAA) Championship. The meet took place on Oct. 30 in Bethpage. The Seawolves accumulated 39 points in the 8k race. William & Mary claimed the title with 34 points. Hofstra finished third with 69 points. The Seawolves trailed the champions by five points.

Five Stony Brook runners earned All-CAA honors. Collin Gilstrap finished fourth overall out of 97 participants. He ran a time of 24:12.9. That performance cut 36 seconds off his previous season best from early October. Henry Gartner placed fifth with a time of 24:14.5. This marked his third top-five finish of the year. Ethan Green finished sixth in 24:21.6. Peter Fogarty completed the top 10 with a time of 24:32.3. Silas Gartner received the final All-CAA nod after finishing 14th. He ran 24:42.9, beating his previous personal record by one-tenth of a second.

Three other Seawolves placed in the top 20 of the race. Ryan Hesler finished 18th. His time of 24:52.4 set a new season best. It fell one second short of his career personal record. Gavin Catherwood placed 19th with a time of 24:54.6. Percy Moser finished 20th in 24:58.3. The team’s depth was evident in the final results. Eight of the 21 runners who finished the course in under 25 minutes represented Stony Brook. All 12 members of the team finished in the top 50 spots of the competition.

Joseph Bertola finished 32nd with a new personal record of 25:25.9. Collin McLaughlin followed in 33rd place with a time of 25:26.1. That also set a new personal best. Rookie Alexander Medina competed in his first CAA Championship. He finished 46th with a time of 25:49.7. That time established a new season best for him. Chris Tardugno rounded out the team’s results in 50th place. He completed the race in 25:55.7.

The Seawolves have two weeks to prepare for the next major meet. The NCAA Northeast Regionals are scheduled for Friday, Nov. 13. The event will also be held in Bethpage. Only runners who qualified in the CAA Championship will compete in that meet.