The men’s and women’s cross-country teams traveled to New York to compete in the Iona Meet of Champions on Friday. Both teams finished in 12th place against a competitive pool of 18 teams.

The Van Cortland Park course proved challenging to the Greyhounds. Jordyn Pugh ’21 said, “It was definitely what we needed to prepare ourselves for some longer races down the road.” 

Working together, the athletes pushed themselves through the course and crossed the line with some noteworthy performances.

Nathan Galloway ‘22 had another stout performance for the Greyhounds at the meet, completing the 8,000-meter course in the time of 27:44:2, placing 86th out of over 150 athletes. Galloway also won the Towson Invitational at the team’s first meet on Sept. 13th, running a time of 16:21:1 in the 6,000-meter course.

Jake Fowler ‘22 came about half a minute behind Galloway, clocking a time of 27:56:3 and placing 94th.  

Coming off a third-place finish at last week’s meet, Kaleigh Caggiano ’20 led the women’s team through the course. Caggiano completed the 5,000-meter course in 19:27:7, placing 54th out of over 160 athletes. 

Abigail Potticary ‘23 and Grayce Heinemann ‘22 trailed behind Caggiano placing 81st and 83rd. They ran times of 20:02:0 and 20:05:2 respectively. 

This meet was the team’s second competition of a short regular season. With three meets left until the Patriot League Championship, the athletes are focused on training hard and leaving it all on the course. 

Pugh emphasized the importance of their pack mentality at this point in the season. “We really focus on working together in meets and practices. Pushing each other helps us get further than we even thought we’d be able to,” she said. 

The teams will toe the line once again on Saturday, Oct. 5, at Lehigh University.

Image Courtesy of Loyola Athletics.