The
Tyler Deck Shipley era of New York University's Men's and Women's Cross Country Teams began today, September 18, at the Rochester University Yellowjacket Invitational on the trails of Genesee Valley Park in Rochester, NY. In Deck Shipley's first meet as Head Coach, the men finished fourth out of 16 qualifying teams, while the women finished eighth in an 18-team field. Both sides competed against multiple Division I programs, as Cornell University was victorious in both the men's 8K and women's 6K.
Rookie
Camryn Menninger (Winchester, MA/Winchester) shined in her collegiate debut, completing the 6K in 22:29.9 for a sixth-place finish and the fastest time among Division III student-athletes. Four other freshmen rounded out NYU's scoring on the women's side with all placing among the top 85 out of 214 runners.
Katherine Cheng (Palo Alto, CA/Palo Alto) finished second for the Violets, coming in at 58th overall with a time of 24:28.4.
"I am very pleased with the women's team's effort today as everyone who was on the line competed for the first time in college," said Deck Shipley. "For Camryn to be the top Division III runner today was a great start to her college running career."
Jessica Allen (Albuquerque, NM/Albuquerque Academy) finished just six spots behind Cheng (64th), completing the course in 24:36.4.
Fiona Kelleher (Bethesda, MD/Bethesda-Chevy Chase) (25:07.8) and
Sophie Addison Carissimo (Genoa, Italy/The International School in Genoa) (25:12.8) rounded out the Violets' scoring, finishing 81st and 83rd, respectively.
"I am so thankful to get the opportunity to race after almost two tough years," said Allen. "We came together as a team and really showed up. I'm very proud of our effort and overall performance. We learned so much from racing today and and are excited to continue racing strong in the upcoming meets."
The men's fourth-place finish was the second-highest among Division III programs, led by rookie
Ryan Tobin's (Toms River, NJ/Toms River South) 20th-place finish in 25:15.0. All seven Violets who raced were among the top 70 in a field of 230+ harriers.
Dillan Spector (Montgomery, NJ/Montgomery) ran the 8K course in 26:31.3 (29th overall) with teammate
Dylan Canales Salazar (Brooklyn, NY/Brooklyn Tech) finishing one spot behind him (26:34.4) in his collegiate debut.
"It was nice being able to race again after so long off," said Spector. "Everyone, especially the newcomers, put in a good deal of effort today. There is still a lot to improve on, but it was a great start."
Nicholas Ankuta (Seattle, WA/Raisbeck Aviation) came in 34th (26:45.9) as he and
Aidin Hasan (Ponte Vedra Beach, FL/The Bolles School) (27:14.2 - 55th) completed the men's scoring.
Coleman Ruiz (Annapolis, MD/Archbishop Spalding) (27:24.3) and
Mubeen Zainul (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads) (27:28.0) also competed for the Violets.
"The men's team had great efforts but looked like a group that hasn't raced in two years. We learned a lot and will continue to grow throughout the season," said Deck Shipley. "Today, in both races, it was about getting an opportunity to race and restarting a rich NYU Cross Country history after a two-year hiatus."
The Violets return to competition on Friday, October 1, at the Paul Short Run hosted by Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA. The men's race begins at 11 am with the women lining up at 11:45 am.
