October 30, 2021

The Basics

• The lead: Sophomore Liam Concannon and junior Ronnie Melao each earned Second Team All-Middle Atlantic Conference honors to lead the Stevens Institute of Technology men's cross country team Saturday at the 2021 MAC Championship. 
• Location: DeSales University Cross Country Course - Center Valley, Pennsylvania
• Short Story: Using a pace of 5:30.7 per mile, Concannon completed the eight-kilometer course in 27:23.5 to lead Stevens' 11-runner contingent. Concannon turned in the second-fastest 8K time of his career to finish 12th out of 141 runners in earning his first All-Conference selection. He missed first-team honors by just 1.6 seconds. Melao completed the course in 27:46.1 to join Concannon on the league's Second Team. Melao used a 5:35.3 mile pace to also earn his first career All-Conference nod. As a team, the Ducks totaled 133 points to finish seventh out of 18 teams. 
• The results: Messiah had three student-athletes place inside the top-seven to earn the team title with 57 points. DeSales finished in second with 61, with York (101), Lebanon Valley (111) and Misericordia (116) rounding out the top-five. Individually, Messiah's Logan Horst used a 5:20.6 mile pace to top the field by over 12 seconds to win Runner of the Year honors with a time of 26:33.2. DeSales' Shane Artis finished third with a time of 26:49 to earn Rookie of the Year honors. Messiah's Dale Fogelsanger was tabbed Coach of the Year to round out the post-race awards.

Top Finishers

• The Ducks' average completion time was 28:07. 
• Stevens' top-five finishers were spread by 1:38 and the top seven were separated by 2:16.9.
• Junior Matt Halvorsen joined Concannon and Melao in earning his first all-conference honor, placing 28th with a time of 28:06.5 to land on the MAC's Third Team.
• Sophomore Jake Aylmer finished the race in 28:16.6 to place 32nd. He missed out on all-conference recognition by just five seconds. 
• First-year Jake Porco was the final scoring runner, completing the race in 29:01.5, setting a new personal best by five seconds. 
• Junior Troy Tomasch (29:17.8) and first-year Mason Brewster (29:40.4) completed the Ducks' top seven, placing 55th and 61st, respectively. 
• Senior Cory Philippe finished right behind Brewster, completing the eight-kilometer course in 29:42.9, narrowly missing a season-best.
• Junior Andrew Donahue (30:44.6), sophomore Dhavan Antala (30:47.2) and sophomore Bryan Onody (31:52.6) rounded out the Ducks' contingent. 

From the Course - Head Coach Lance Harden

• "The course at DeSales received over an inch of rain last night, so we had true cross country conditions with standing water, mud, and slippery footing."
• "Liam Concannon got out well and established himself in the front group, just as he did at the regular-season meet here. He maintained his position throughout and led the way with a fine performance. Ronnie Melao started more conservatively and gradually worked his way through the field, eventually moving from 28th place at the 3.5 mile mark to 17th at the finish with a monster final mile."
• "Jake Porco had his finest race of the season, somehow running faster in the slop today than he did three weeks ago in ideal conditions. Cory Philippe and Andrew Donahue executed the race plan solidly and had their strongest performances of the season."

Up Next

• Men's cross country returns to the course in two weeks time for the inaugural Metro Region Championship. The rest will be contested on Nov. 13 at the Gloucester County DREAM Park and will be hosted by Rowan University. Stevens ran a preview event on the course on Oct. 16. 

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