BRONX, N.Y. – The Patriots raced against tough competition in the IC4A/ECAC Championships Friday at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx hosted by Fordham University.
 
The race featured 34 women's teams and 32 men's teams. The women tied their best finish earning 6th overall while the men placed 14th.
 
"The women all ran very well today and did a good job competing head-to-head," said Coach Mihalich. "In our last race we had an emphasis on running hard and fast, so it was important to add the competitive element. The pieces are still coming together, but this was a step in the right direction. Annabelle did a tremendous job up front. The runner up place at this race comes at the hands of some very talented competitors. I think this group is eager to work on the details in the coming weeks."
 
Junior Annabelle Eastman placed 2nd overall tying her best finish with a time of 20:55.4. Two other juniors followed close behind including Kate O'Neill in 23rd (22:03.7) and Sarah Francis in 34th (22:13.9). Senior Noelle Saine finished three spots after in 37th (22:19.7) with junior Alexis Anderson rounding out the top five in 103rd (23:04.4).
 
Graduate student Jack Ikenberry led the Mason men finishing in 8th place (24:10.9). Seven places after came sophomore Wesley Bond in 15th (24:34.4). Two freshmen followed, Nicholas Emmert in 86th (25:47.8) and Charlie Blundell in 212th (27:03.9). To complete the top five, Brendan Malone finished 216th (27:06.6).
 
"While we were pleased with a number of the individual results, the team outcome wasn't where we could be," said Coach Gerard. "We were missing several impact athletes today for a variety of reasons so, moving forward to conference the focus will be on putting our lineup back together and getting some of our momentum back."
 
Up next, the Patriots will meet in Richmond for the A-10 Championship on October 29th.