Canisius graduate student Chad Maloy posted a time of 24:49.8 to become the first men's runner in program history to win the National Catholic Championship, which was held Friday afternoon at the Notre Dame Golf Course in South Bend, Ind. Maloy, who finished sixth in last year's event, was one of five Golden Griffin male runners to place in the top-15 as the Blue and Gold finished the 5K event in second place with 41 points, just one point behind team champion Notre Dame.
“Sometimes the close ones go your way, and sometimes they don't,” Canisius head coach Nate Huckle said. “I could not be more proud of the way our men went out and raced today. Notre Dame threw everything they had at us today, and we battled them to the line man-for-man. We just fell one point short, but none of our runners could have given any more effort than they did today.”
On the women's side, the Griffs placed eighth in annual race at Notre Dame, the program's second-straight top-10 finish after the squad took sixth a year ago. Junior Anna Phillips took 23rd in the women's race with her time of 18:24.4, while sophomore Carlin Sullivan crossed the line in 36th place with a time of 18:38.5.
“Anna and Carlin ran very strong races for us up front,” Huckle said. “They posted the fifth and ninth-best times in program history, and I know they are really just getting started this season. The women showed great potential today as a team.”
Junior Jeff Antolos crossed the line in 25:14.8 to earn a seventh-place finish in the men's event, which featured 276 runners from a total of 36 teams from Division I, II and III levels. Junior Brennan Root finished 11th in the field with his time of 25:24.3 and senior Cooper Roach placed 14th with his time of 25:36.4. Junior teammate Xavier Sauvageau took 15th in the field after he crossed the finish line in 25:36.5.
Host Notre Dame placed its top-four runners among the top-10 finishers in the event to knock off Canisius, which was the defending men's race champions. Loyola (Ill.) placed third with 99 points, while Duquesne and Dayton rounded out the top-five in the team competition with 121 and 128 points, respectively.
“Chad's victory helps ease the sting a little,” Huckle said. “He worked his tail off this summer and it is great to see it pay off for him. He is the first National Catholic men's champion in program history and he ran the fastest time ever for a Griff on the Notre Dame golf course.”
Canisius sophomore Jade Auchmoody placed 67th in the women's race with her time of 19:05.6, while junior Haley Keene recorded a time of 19:08.5 to place 72nd in the field of 299 runners. Freshman Aileen Doyle ran the course in 19:24.1 to finish 96th overall.
The Notre Dame women's team scored five of the top-10 finishers to win the event with 20 points. Xavier placed second with 84 points, while Loyola (Ill.), Saint Louis and Duquesne took places three through five. Canisius recorded 207 total team points, five points behind seventh-place Holy Cross, and 169 points ahead of long-time rival Niagara.
Both the men's and women's cross country teams will return to action Oct. 2, when the Griffs travel to take part in the annual Paul Short Invitational, hosted by Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa.
