News
NYIT Hosts Cross Country Championships for the First Time in School History
October 23, 2017
Pictured: Noah Simatei won Rookie of the Year at the ECC Championships after placing second in the 8K race.
On October 21, NYIT hosted the East Coast Conference (ECC) Cross Country Championships for the first time in the school’s history.
Noah Simatei’s bid to become ECC Runner of the Year fell narrowly short, but he took home a consolation as the league’s Rookie of the Year.
Simatei, the freshman sensation with the NYIT men’s cross country team, was edged by less than three seconds by Roberts Wesleyan College sophomore Josiah Ottolini for the victory at the event held at NYIT-Old Westbury.
Simatei finished with an 8K time of 24:59.27 to take second place and claim a spot on the first-team All-ECC list. Ottolini had a time of 24:56.37.
“The next race is regionals, which will determine if I go to nationals or not,” Simatei said. “There are two weeks until the race, and I have a lot to do. I just want to do a lot of training and improve my times.”
Roberts Wesleyan men’s runners occupied six of the seven top slots and won the team championship.
NYIT finished fifth of eight teams with an average 8K time of 28:04.63.
After Roberts Wesleyan College (25:45.26), St. Thomas Aquinas College finished second (26:59.30), followed by Daemen College (27:18.26), Molloy College (27:21.59), NYIT, LIU Post (29:17.42), Queens College (30:14.03) and University of Bridgeport (33:34.58).
NYIT senior Devon Lides had the second-best time by an NYIT runner at 27:48.13, which was good for 26th among the 72 runners. Fellow seniors Bishoy Bishara and Tyler Mack, also competing at home for the final time, were 32nd (28:19.71) and 42nd (29:30.22), respectively.
The NYIT women finished seventh of nine teams with an average 5K time of 22:38.45.
Roberts Wesleyan also took home the women’s championship, with NYIT finishing seventh of nine teams.
The full order of finish: Roberts Wesleyan College (19:04.86), St. Thomas Aquinas College (19:40.89), Daemen College (19:46.58), Molloy College (20:31.28), LIU Post (20:44.03), Queens College (22:01.35), NYIT (22:38.45), University of the District of Columbia (25:34.28), and University of Bridgeport (27:56.70).
By Adam Rubin
