LABOY WINS ATLANTIC 10 INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIP
PHILADELPHIA (11/01/03)—Sophomore Andre Laboy won the 2003 Atlantic 10 Cross Country Championships on Saturday morning with a dominating performance over the field of 109 runners. Laboy covered the hill and dale in 24:46.7, the fastest time in the six A-10 Championships run at Belmont Plateau. His margin of victory of 25.9 seconds is the fourth largest in conference history and the widest since Penn State's Eric Carter set the mark with a 46-second victory in 1986.
Saint Joseph's, hampered by injuries, managed a second place finish behind three-time defending champion, La Salle. Sophomore Mike DiDio, who was expected to help the Hawks contend for the team title, tried to race on a broken metatarsel, but could not finish and was helped off the course.
Freshman Teddy Meyers finished second for SJU and 15th overall (26:05.5). Sophomore Dave Masse and junior Collin Martin placed 17th and 18th overall with times of 26:07.3 and 26:08.6, respectively.
Sophomore Joe Mohn, an all-conference performer in 2002, rounded out the SJU top five with his 21st place showing (26:23.1). Senior Rich Cullin (27th, 26:41.0) and freshman Shane Kimmins (37th, 26:54.6) placed sixth and seventh, respectively, for the Crimson and Gray.
Laboy became the fifth Hawk harrier to win the conference championship and the first since Karl Savage won at Pittsburgh's Schenly Park in 2000. “It's my first collegiate win, so I'm happy with that,” the 2002 A-10 Most Outstanding Rookie said. “The Atlantic 10 is always a good race to run well at.”
Despite coming into the race as the leading returnee from the 2002 Championships, Laboy remained humble. “It's never good to come into a race too confident, because you can set yourself up for disaster,” he said. “I did expect to be up with the lead pack and use the same race strategy that I have been and just run hard.”
Next up for Saint Joseph's is the NCAA District II Championships. Laboy needs to finish in the top four after individuals from the top two teams to be the first Hawk to qualify for the NCAA Championships since Savage in 2000.
“That's going to be a tough race,” Laboy said. “I'm hoping to qualify for NCAAs —that's my individual goal.
2003 Atlantic 10 Championships
Belmont Plateau, Philadelphia, Pa.
1. La Salle 29 2. Saint Joseph's 68 3. Duquesne 109 4. Richmond 112 5. Dayton 117 6. George Washington 184 7. Massachusetts 191 8. Xavier 198 9. Rhode Island 218 10. Fordham 235 11. St. Bonaventure 362
Saint Joseph's |
