39°
The Purchase College mens and womens cross country teams completed their seasons Sunday in the Skyline Conference Championships at Van Cortlandt Park with the Panthers women racing to a third-place finish and the men placing in sixth in a rebuilding year for both programs.
The final meet of the season was delayed for three weeks by weather but the team remained in training and performed at a high level.It's important to understand the complexity of training for a second peak, assistant coach Liam McGuirk said. I have to give credit to the entire group for its level of maturity, meeting the responsibilities. These are extraordinary young people. Despite a series of setbacks throughout the season, they managed to regroup and demonstrate real stick-to-itiveness.For the second consecutive year, St. Joseph's-LI captured the men's and women's team titles. The St. Joseph's men amassed 20 points to seize their third crown in four years, followed by Maritime (84), Yeshiva (87), Farmingdale State (90), The Sage Colleges (116), Purchase (157), Mount Saint Mary (191), NYU-POLY (202) and Old Westbury (264).The Panther women tied for third in a sharp performance led by Purchase's Laurel Squadron, who earned first-team All-Conference honors and finished seventh overall in a time of 21:47.59.
It was a great showing, said Co-captain Colleen Walker said. It was most meaningful that the team stuck together so well. I'm both proud and happy for the third-place finish.
In addition to Squadron and Walker, the Panthers were also paced by Mariel Perez.
The Purchase men were led by All-Skyline selection Jake Agosto, who finished eighth overall. He paced the Panther field by finishing in 29:44 (5:59 average mile).Skyline Sports Information and Purchase Sports Information Contributed to this report.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Harrison and receive free news updates.
