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MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY TEAM WINS NCAA DIVISION III CHAMPIONSHIP

11/17/07

NCAA Division III National Championship Results

The wait is over.

The New York University men’s cross country team won its first-ever NCAA Division III National Championship, besting a crowded field at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, on Saturday.

Running in blustery winter conditions over the 8,000-meter course, the Violets had five finishers among the top 53, including senior Hany Abdallah, who took ninth place in a time of 24:51.3.

“It was a quintessential team effort,” said junior Jesse Schneider, who finished in 21st place (25:05.5).

Both Abdallah and Schneider earned All-America honors for finishing among the top-25.

It wasn’t until about 10 minutes after the last of the race’s 280 runners crossed the finish line that the final team scores were posted. Atop that 32-team leader board was NYU with 128 points.

“We ran the best we could and I knew we had a chance, but I had no idea where we were in the final standings until our name went up on the screen,” admitted head coach Nick McDonough. “Last year, we scored 92 points and came in second. This year we won with 128. It was a war. A real war.”

The Violets earned the victory on the strength of their depth. Senior Spenser Popeson was NYU’s third finisher, taking 46th place in a time of 25:22.1. Senior James McCarthy was next in 47th (25:22.7), with senior Ryan Williams not far behind (53rd place, 25:27.0).

Tyler Sigl of the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, won the individual title in atime of 24:24.0.

While the victory was never certain, it wound up being pretty comfortable, with second-place Haverford College finishing with 150 points.

Cortland State took third place (158 points), while last year’s winner, Calvin College finished fourth (214).

The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse (221 points) rounded out the top five.

“I was disappointed when we finished,” Abdallah said. “I had hit a wall in the first mile and knew that individually I wasn’t going to win. But, I knew I had to tough it out for the team. I just wasn’t sure we had done enough to win it.”

Those feelings were thrust aside when he saw that NYU had finished ahead of the pack.

"You don’t know what it’s like, what you will feel when you win a national championship,” Abdallah added. “It’s weird. It was just a great surprise and an indescribable feeling.

“When we won, everything else was forgotten.”

Honors

Men Cross Country's Abdallah Takes Home UAA Athlete of the Week

New York University senior tri-captain Hany Abdallah was named the University Athletic Associatio... Continue reading »

Men's Cross Country's Williams Wins UAA Weekly Award

New York University senior Ryan Williams captured the University Athletic Association (UAA) Men's Cr... Continue reading »