Lions Place Three Inside Top 10 At Mets XC Champs

Friday, October 8

Bronx, N.Y.

11:00 a.m.

Columbia

Metropolitan Cross Country Championships

Photo by: Columbia University Athletics/David Collins

Lions Place Three Inside Top 10 At Mets XC Champs

10/8/2021 2:08:00 PM | Cross Country

Columbia Results Full Results Photo Gallery

At Van Cortlandt Park Columbia Cross Country's women and men both finished fourth overall.

BRONX, N.Y. — Under the sun and back in the Bronx for the first time in over 600 days, Columbia Cross Country put together a solid performance running The Metropolitan Cross Country Championships at Van Cortlandt Park, with both the Lion men and women finishing fourth overall, producing three top 10 finishes along the way.

HOW IT HAPPENED (WOMEN): In her second race of the 2021 season, senior Delaney Sanacore improved on her previous finish at the Stony Brook Invite, crossing the line in sixth place overall, with a time of 19:47.6. It was the best finish of Sanacore's career and improved on her 12th place finish in the same race back in 2019.

Sophomore Olivia Schmitt rounded out the top 15 finishes for the Columbia women, crossing the line in 14th place, running the first 5K of her career in 20:23.0.

HOW IT HAPPENED (MEN): The Columbia men had a pair of top 10 finishers in first-year Stephen Connelly and sophomore Jacob Ireland, who finished seventh and eighth respectively. Both Lion men crossed the line within seconds of each other as Connelly finished with a time of 27:19.6 and Ireland crossed in 27:19.9.

For Connelly it was the first 8K and top 10 finish of his career in Columbia blue. While Ireland's race was the first 8K he's run in his career, and he now has a pair of top 15 finishes under his belt, having come in 12th at the Coast-to-Coast Battle in Beantown "Open Race".

COLUMBIA RESULTS
The Metropolitan Cross Country Championships (Oct. 8, 2021)
Bronx, N.Y. (Van Cortlandt Park)

Women (5K)
(1. Bridget Alex, Fordham, 19:20.1) 6. Delaney Sanacore, 19:47.6; 14. Olivia Schmitt, 20:23.0; 23. Kate Kuwahara, 20:42.7; 31. Natalia Quintero, 21:25.4; 51. Alex Rodman, 23:06.6; 52. Story Downing, 23:19.7

Men (8K)
(1. Brandon Hall, Fordham, 26:07.6) 7. Stephen Connelly, 27:19.6; 8. Jacob Ireland, 27:19.9; 17. Dominic Sobhani, 28:07.0; Pat Bayeux, 29:26.2; 33. Caleb Gartner, 29:37.6; 37. Lucas Aramburu, 29:49.7; Nixon McKenzie, DNF; Ian Smith, DNF; Alex Tillock, DNF; Solomon Fountain, DNF

FOLLOWING THE LIONS: Stay up to date on all things Columbia Cross Country by following the Lions on Twitter (@CULionsXCTF), Instagram (@culionsxctf) and on Facebook (@ColumbiaAthletics).