October 29, 2022

The Basics

• The lead: Junior Liam Concannon finished 12th out of 149 runners to lead the Stevens Institute of Technology men's cross country team to a fourth-place finish Saturday at the Middle Atlantic Conference Championship.
• Location: Union Canal Tunnel Park  - Lebanon, Pa.
• Short Story: Using a 5:13.4 mile pace, Concannon completed the eight-kilometer course in a personal-best time of 25:57.8 to lead Stevens' 12-runner contingent, finishing 12th out of 149 runners to pilot the Ducks to fourth place, outperforming the Ducks' predicted finish in the pre-championship coaches poll. For his efforts, the Cranford, New Jersey native earned Second Team All-MAC honors to lead a total of five Ducks with all-conference selections. Stevens was one of just two teams among the 16 competing teams to have all five scoring runners earn all-conference recognition and three of the five earned the honor for the second time. Concannon missed out on first-team recognition by just 7.1 seconds. As a team, the Ducks totaled 94 points to post the program's best finish at the conference championship meet after consecutive seventh-place performances in its first two seasons in the MAC.
• Of note: Messiah won its fifth team championship, totaling 40 points to finish comfortably ahead of Widener (81). The Falcons averaged 25:34 to finish the course and scored three of the top-10 finishes, including two of the top-three. Messiah's Logan Horst won the individual championship for the second straight year, averaging 5:00.7 per mile to complete the course in 24:54.3 and was named the MAC's Runner of the Year. Messiah swept the individual awards as Louka Fetter was tabbed the top rookie, while Dale Fogelsanger was named Coach of the Year.
• Also of note: The top 10 finishers were named First Team All-MAC, while the 11th through 20th-place finishers landed on the league's Second Team. Runners in 21st through 30 earned third-team recognition to complete the All-Conference honors. 

The Finishes

• Stevens' top-five finishers were spread by 38.3 seconds - the smallest spread among all competing teams in the fifth 8k race of the season. The Ducks' top seven were separated by 1:20.2.
• Stevens averaged 26:15 in completing the course. 
• Each of the Ducks' top seven runners posted 8k personal-best times, while one other Duck also posted a career-best mark.
• Joining Concannon as repeat All-Conference performers were seniors Ronnie Melao and Matt Halvorsen, who repeated as second- and third-team honorees, respectively, while junior Jake Aylmer (Second Team) and sophomore Tim Griffin (Third Team) earned the recognition for the first time. Stevens five all-conference selections doubled the program's all-time All-MAC selections
• Melao and Aylmer crossed the finish line less than two seconds apart, finishing 17th and 18th, respectively. Melao touched the line in 26:07.5, while Aylmer was right behind at 26:09.4.
• Halvorsen (21st) and Griffin (26th) rounded out the Ducks' scoring runners. Halvorsen completed the course in 26:21.1, while Griffin used a 5:21.1 mile pace to finish the course in 26:36.1.
• First-year Danny Jutras and sophomore Jake Porco rounded out the top-seven. Jutras completed the race in 27:14.7 to finish 39th, while Porco completed the course in 27:18 to finish 43rd.
• Sophomore Mason Brewster and first-year Mick Barbi were the next pair to reach the finish. Brewster completed the course in 27:54.4 (60th), while Barbi touched the line at a personal-best 27:58 (62nd).
• Junior Bryan Onody (28:12.4), senior Troy Tomasch (28:19.4) and junior Frank Orlando (28:35.8) rounded out the Ducks' contingent. 

From the Course - Head Coach John Kolibab

• "I'm incredibly proud of how our group has competed this entire season. We knew we had the talent to improve upon our results from last season's championship and we've been looking forward to this meet ever since. I am very happy to say that we had a successful outing, which was great to see as my first championship meet as head coach."
• "Our men have had a tremendously successful campaign and have been running incredibly well all season. This meet was no different, as we had our top seven runners on the day all have the fastest race of their careers. Improvement on the previous season is all you can ever ask for, and going from seventh to fourth (and being within striking distance of third and second), is a massive accomplishment. It's been amazing working with such a talented group this season and I am incredibly excited to see what they can do at the Regional Championship in two weeks time."

Up Next

• Men's cross country returns to the course on Nov. 12 for the Metro Region Championship, which will be hosted by DeSales University on its campus course.

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