The New York University men's cross country team took second place at the NCAA Division III Niagara Regional Championship in Houghton, NY, on Saturday, November 11, inching closer to qualification for the NCAA Division III National Championship for the first time in six years.
NYU's second-place finish on Saturday was its highest at Regionals since 2013 when the team also placed second.
The Violets, ranked #28 nationally and #2 regionally heading into the race, totaled 57 points, just 16 points behind the champions SUNY Geneseo, who are ranked #1 in the region. NYU finished 30 points ahead of third-place Brockport State.
Junior Ryan Tobin has been the Violets's top performer all season long, and led the team once again with a second-place individual finish in a time of 24:20.6 over the 8k course. One place behind was sophomore Jeffrey Chen, who crossed the line in 24:26.8.
Sophomore Andrew Taylor finished third for the team in 24:38.3, taking seventh place overall. Graduate student George Brady crossed the finish line next in 24:53.9, taking 14th place.
Senior Jon Diaz also had a strong race, scoring for the team for the first time this season as the fifth runner and crossing the line in 25:34.4 for 31st place.
Sophomore Shaurya Srivastava finished sixth for the Violets in 25:45.7, placing 40th in the race. Brandon Meiner rounded out the racing squad and demonstrated the team's depth with a 25:59.1 finish for 51st place.
Overall, 25 teams and 176 individuals competed in the race
The Violets will now await word on a potential at-large bid to the NCAA National Championship, which will be held in Newville, PA, next Saturday, November 18. As a team, the Violets have not qualified for Nationals since 2017.
