Men's Results
Women's Results

PURCHASE, N.Y. – Hosting the program's first cross country meet in 26 years, both the Manhattanville men's and women's cross country teams celebrated in style with first-place finishes at the Valiant Invitational, held on Manhattanville's campus on a sunny Saturday morning.

On the men's side, Manhattanville's score of 19 bested the 37 points of FDU-Florham. The women's team finished with a team score of 27, defeating FDU-Florham (41 points) and the College of Saint Elizabeth (63 points). 

"I am very pleased with our results today," head coach Mike Owens said. "Both the men's and women's squads worked on some mental aspects of racing this week and I think it showed. Everyone was very excited to race on our home course for the first time in a long while, and I think we made the most of it today."

Individually, Mark Castelli of West Point finished first and set a men's new course record with a time of 17:37, while on the women's side Saint Elizabeth's Brittany Hinton also set a new course record by crossing the finish line in 16:53.

The Valiant women led the way with four of the top nine individual finishes on the 4.43K course. Junior Sarah Gustavsson (Gothenburg, Sweden) paced the Valiants for the third straight meet and finished second overall on the day by crossing the line in 17:48.

Sophomore Kelly Davidson (Yorba Linda, Calif.) made her season debut at the meet and took sixth place overall, finishing in 18:48; that was 18 seconds faster than freshman Ashley Luiso (Mamaroneck, N.Y.), who took seventh place with a time of 19:06. Fellow freshman Alexis Moore (Voorheesville, N.Y.) came in close behind in 19:56, which was good enough for another top-10 finish in ninth place.

Senior Patricia Neubauer (Potsdam, Germany) recorded the fifth-best Manhattanville time and clinched the Valiant victory with an 11th-place finish, clocking in at 20:04.  Sophomore Nicole Muschio (Pawling, N.Y.) (21:04, 13th place) and junior Pilar Mahady (Bedford Hills, N.Y.) (21:16, 15th place) rounded out the Valiant women's team's results.

"Sarah has been carrying the load for the women this season, but it was encouraging to see Kelly, Ashley and Patricia come off injuries to help our team today," Owens said.

The Valiant men used a deep lineup to produce some solid times and take first place, as four Valiants entered the top 10 and six placed inside the top 15. Junior Mike Szarkowicz (Watertown, Conn.) was the team's top finisher in fifth place, as he finished the 5.32K course in 18:30.

Freshmen Daniel Caggiano (Staten Island, N.Y.) and Ben Smith (Proctor, Vt.) followed right behind Szarkowicz in sixth and seventh place, respectively. Caggiano clocked in with a time of 19:19, while Smith came in just six seconds later in 19:25. Another pair of Valiant runners, junior Josh Marrero (Elmsford, N.Y.) and sophomore Chad Spaeth (Carmel, N.Y.), finished up in 10th and 11th place to clinch the win, as Marrero finished in 20:53 and Spaeth in 21:16.

"Mike is off to a great start for the men and is backed by a pair of freshmen that seem to get better every week," Owens said.

The Valiant men, who used a program-record nine runners in the meet, also received solid performances from the remainder of the deep squad. Junior Morrison Boateng (Bronx, N.Y.) (22:03) took 14th place, followed by sophomore Garry Ramirez (New York, N.Y.) (23:38) in 17th place, freshman Sean McIver (Yorktown, N.Y.) (26:09) in 19th place and sophomore John Coll Santana (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) (26:57) in 20th position.

Manhattanville next will compete at the Codfish Bowl event in Boston, Mass., next Saturday on September 25.