Bronx, N.Y. – Redshirt senior Stuart Lampen-Crowell finished his cross country career on a high note by finishing first for George Mason University's men's team and fourth overall at the 2015 ECAC/IC4A Men's Cross Country Championships at Van Cortland Park on Saturday.
In the absence of top runner junior Steven Flynn, who did not race, Lampen-Crowell shone for the Patriots and finished the five-mile race in 25:36.7 to put the first points for his team on the board. Mason went on to finish fifth of six teams with a total of 110 points in the men's race, which was dominated by Columbia's runners, who defended their 2014 title with 28 points. Two of the Patriots' Atlantic 10 Conference rivals – Saint Joseph's (second – 70 points) and La Salle (fourth – 90 points) also participated, while the field was completed by Harvard (third – 78 points) and Temple (sixth – 150 points).
“I was generally pleased with the results today,” said Andrew Gerard, head coach for the men's team. “Stu Crowell capped off his career with perhaps the best championships race in his college career – [I] really couldn't have asked for more.”
Gerard expressed satisfaction of Mason's second and third finishers – redshirt freshman Logan Miller (26:16.7) and redshirt junior Brent Coulter (26:20.2) – who finished 24th and 27th, respectively, in the 76-runner race.
“They both rebounded nicely and ran very credibly,” Gerard said. With the rest of our squad being very young, it was a good learning experience and a nice spring board into [indoor] track season.”
Freshman Ciara Donohue had another strong performance in the women's five-kilometer race and set the pace for the young Mason team with 17th overall finish, completing the course in 18:49.5. The Patriots faced a larger field of competition in the women's race and completed their 2015 season with 153 points, which earned them sixth team finish out of eight teams. Columbia completed their sweep on the day by winning the women's race as well with seven runners in the top-15 of all 80 runners and a total of 38 points.
Following Donohue was another impact runner through the season, sophomore Bailey Kolonich, who finished 25th with a time of 19:05.7. Seniors Jennifer Nakamura Victoria Doss ran their last race for the Patriots and finished 30th (19:18.9) and 60th (20:26.9) overall.
