OLD WESTBURY, N.Y. - Daemen College placed four runners among the top-17 finishers en route to a third-place showing at the East Coast Conference Men's Cross Country Championship, held this morning on the campus of New York Institute of Technology. It marked the second-straight season the Wildcats have placed third at this event, and equals Daemen's best finish at the ECC Championship since the Wildcats first took part in 2013.
Daemen accumulated 85 points in the team standings, finishing behind Roberts Wesleyan College (19) and St. Thomas Aquinas College (71). RWC placed five runners among the top-six finishers en route to its fourth-straight league championship. Molloy College (186) and New York Institute of Technology (117) rounded out the top-five.
RWC was paced by race-winner, and thus ECC Runner of the Year, Josiah Ottolini who won today with a time of 24:56.37. Pease edged Noah Samatei (24:59.27) of NYIT for the individual title.
Sophomore Josh Bodnar (Fillmore, N.Y./Fillmore) was the top Daemen finisher for the third-straight race, as he placed 12th out of 72 runners with a career-best time of 26:40.71. Bodnar's 12th-place finish earned him second-team All-ECC honors. His previous personal-best time of 26:45.1 was set three weeks ago at the Mike Woods Invitational held at Letchworth State Park. It was nearly a two minute improvement from last year's race for Bodnar, who finished 20th last fall with a time of 28:19.2.
Freshman Mike Swiniarski (Akron, N.Y./Akron) and juniors Lucas Canales (Ithaca, N.Y./Ithaca) and Timothy Poole (Fayetteville, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius) also helped the Wildcats edge out Molloy by finishing 15th, 16th and 17th respectively. Swinarski ran the race in 27:05.76 and knocked nearly a minute and a half off his previous personal-best time (28:25.2), which he also set at the Mike Woods Invitational. Canales, who did not compete in the race last year, posted a time of 27:12.67, while Poole crossed the finish line with a career-best time of 27:14.46—knocking 42 seconds off his previous career-best time (27:57.0) he set at the Mike Woods Invitational. Poole nearly knocked two minutes off the time he posted at last year's ECC Championship, when he placed 30th with a time of 29:08.6.
Freshman Cale Silvestri (Elma, N.Y. / Iroquois Central) also contributed to Daemen's team score, as he placed 31st with a personal-best time of 28:17.69. He knocked 24 seconds off his previous personal-best time (28:42.1) that he set at the Mike Woods Invitational. Redshirt junior Zach Barnes (Jamestown, N.Y./Jamestown CC) also competed for the Wildcats today and he finished 58th with a time of 31:51.60.
Daemen is idle until Nov. 4 when it will take part in the NCAA Division II East Region Championship. The race will be hosted by Daemen and take place at the Audobon Golf Course in Amherst, N.Y.
For continuing coverage on the Daemen men's cross country team throughout the season, follow @DaemenAthletics and @DaemenXC on Twitter.
