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#2 Men's Cross Country Successfully Defends its UAA Title

10/27/07

UAA Championship Results and Honors

The New York University men's cross country team, currently ranked #2 in the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division III poll, easily outdistanced the field and won its second consecutive University Athletic Association (UAA) Championship on Saturday in Boston, Massachusetts.

Senior captain Ryan Williams won the individual title and led a Violet squad that captured each of the top three spots and five of the top eight.

Williams ran the 8,000-meter Franklin Park course in a time of 25:01, just ahead of teammates junior Jesse Schneider (25:05) and senior captain Hany Abdallah (25:06).

"Our top three guys took control at the three-mile mark and never looked back," said NYU head coach Nick McDonough, who was named UAA Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season. "They worked together and Ryan pulled away in the last half mile."

Senior James McCarthy took sixth (25:26), while senior Spenser Popeson finished eighth (25:35).

The outstanding performance by NYU's veteran squad members provided a safe cushion over second-place Carnegie Mellon University (20-68) in the eight-team race.

The Violets' point total was tied for the second lowest in the history of the UAA Championship (the University of Rochester totaled 15 in 1990) and the lowest since Rochester also scored 20 points in winning the 1992 title.

"The race went out at a modest pace," McDonough said, referring to the wet, rainy conditions. "But, there was solid pack running from the first mile on."

Freshman Matt Turlip also finished among the top-20 (17th, 26:04) for the Violets.

The squad returns to action on Saturday, November 10, when NYU hosts the NCAA Division III Atlantic Regional Cross Championship at Van Cortlandt Park. The Violets are defending champions and should be bolstered by the expected return of senior All-American Jon Phillips, who has not raced yet this season due to injury.