Spotlight on Cross Country

Pictured: Noah Simatei took first place at the LIU Post Invitational.

NYIT cross country is going the distance. Two of its stars took first and second place in the East Coast Conference competition on September 23. Noah Simatei on the men’s team and Monicha Jebor on the women’s, both from Eldoret, Kenya, are hoping to continue their success at their upcoming meets before the ECC Championships at NYIT on October 21, the first time the school will host a final.

Simatei continues to run away from his ECC competition. Dominating the field at the LIU Post Invitational on September 23, he posted an 8K time of 21:51.16, comfortably topping runner-up Brian Michaels of Molloy (23:30.68) and the rest of the field.

Monicha Jebor finished second in the LIU Post Invitational with a time of 19:46:48.

This was the second straight week Simatei finished first in a major cross country matchup. He captured the NYIT Invitational on September 16, topping Division I competition from Fordham and Seton Hall.

Also at the LIU Post Invitational, the NYIT men’s cross country team finished second of four teams with an average time of 25:29.39. Molloy won the event with an average time of 24:23.19. Individually, Devon Lides finished fifth of 32 runners with an 8K time of 24:46.21. Tyler Mack finished 14th (26:09.08).

The NYIT women finished third of five teams with an average 5K time of 22:31.40. Molloy also won on the women’s side, with an average time of 21:03.08. But Jebor highlighted NYIT’s performances by finishing second in the 34-runner women’s field with a time of 19:46.48.

On October 7 NYIT runners will compete at the NJIT Invitational. On October 13 they will travel to the Metropolitan Championships at Van Cortland Park before making their way on to home turf for the ECC Championships.