The men's and women's cross country teams faced tremendous challenges this past weekend in their quest to claim a Region 19 Championship, and that started even before they left campus! One Roadrunner's alarm clock failed to go off, another had the axle on their car break en-route to the school, and the team's scheduled bus never showed up. A great thing about our RCSJ Roadrunners is that they flock together to overcome adversity and help each other out. The teams finally made their way to the meet an hour later than expected. A tough journey makes the end result even more enjoyable, and the Roadrunners were able to experience something that hasn't happened since 2007 … a clean sweep of BOTH Region 19 titles.
Men's Region 19 Championship Race
The men raced first on a hilly course hosted by Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology. After seeing the course, the teams were given a strategy to follow, and they were eager to race. The RCSJ flock followed the plan perfectly, leading to the 1st Region 19 title for the men since 2014. Anas Bensaoud went into the race with confidence, letting a Thaddeus runner lead the way up the hills to start the course, before dominating the second half of the race to win the individual title by over a minute and earn All-Region honors.
Charlie Hepler improved on his finish from last year and also earned All-Region honors with an impressive 4th place finish. Branden Lachowicz made a triumphant return to racing after a tough work schedule kept him out the past few weeks. He placed 6th to earn the last All-Region honor for the Roadrunner men's team. Gavin Casella and John Schilling ran neck and neck for most of the race, with both of them just missing All-Region honors, but both placing in the top 10 (8th and 9th respectively) to secure a big win for the team. Completing the flock for the Roadrunner men was Derek Wyllie with an 18th place finish. Coach Ryan Hughes was named "Region Men's Coach of the Year" in winning the 5th Regional title for men's xc in his tenure with RCSJ. Coach Hughes stated, "The men were anxious to avenge their loss to Brookdale from last year, they have been working hard all season, and the strategies we have implemented in our training have paid off in our racing. I am very proud of the improvements we have made over the past few weeks and am looking forward to seeing what happens at Nationals!"
Men's 8k
1. Anas Bensaoud 28:21 All-Region
4. Charlie Hepler 30:20 All-Region
6. Branden Lachowicz 31:45 All-Region
8. Gavin Casella 32:44
9. John Schilling 33:07
18. Derek Wyllie 36:33
Women's Region 19 Championship
The Lady Roadrunners faced a big challenge in their race from a very large Bergen County team. It was clear from the start that the race would come down to the wire, as the teams were very evenly matched going up the hills. The layout of the course in Lancaster, PA made it very difficult to see what was going on mid-race, but as the Roadrunners emerged for the final mile, it became clear that their hard work up the hills had paid off. Blazing the way was freshman phenom Courtney O'Hara, placing 2nd overall in one of her fastest times of the year to earn All-Region honors. Next out of the woods was Ally Campo, who ran the most strategic and dramatically important race of the day, with an impressive 6th place finish to earn All-Region honors. Close on Ally's heels was Mackenzie Cochran placing 7th to earn All-Region honors for the second year in a row. Wrapping up the scoring with big victories over some Bergen runners were Madison O'Donnell in 10th place and Grace Wahl in 20th place.
When the dust settled on the abnormally warm day, the women narrowly earned victory and claimed back-to-back Region 19 Championships. Coach Ryan Hughes was named "Region Women's Coach of the Year" in winning his 9th Regional title for women's xc during his tenure. Coach Hughes had this to say about the ladies, "I knew it was going to be a close battle for the title, and I wanted to make sure the team was prepared for anything we would face on the unknown course. The girls worked extremely hard in their workouts leading up to Regionals and their hard work and perseverance on the tough course paid off. I am excited to see the lady Roadrunners fly in two weeks at Nationals."
Women's 5k
2. Courtney O'Hara 21:46 All-Region
6. Ally Campo 24:36 All-Region
7. Mackenzie Cochran 25:04 All-Region
10. Madison O'Donnell 27:22
20. Grace Wahl 36:06
Matchday Wrapup
Let's put it this way -- the Roadrunner Men's and Women's Cross Country teams got off to a tough start Saturday before flying high to the finish line!
Their tough start had nothing to do with cross country. Unfortunately, their team buss to Thaddeus Stevens College in Lancaster, PA, the host site of Saturday's Region 19 Championship meet, failed to show up.
Coach Ryan Hughes and others were forced into emergency driving duty, transporting the team runners to and from the meet.
Once they made it to the host site in Lancaster, PA, it was all business for the Roadrunners.
Their efforts led to Region 19 Division III championships in both the men's and women's competition with men's standout Anas Bensaoud picking up the men's individual title and freshman star Courtney O'Hara placing a strong runnerup in the women's race.
See complete race results here:
https://falconracetiming.com/event/region-xix-championship-division-i-iii-lancaster-pa/
The men's team, led by sophomore Anas Bensaoud, easily won the Region 19 Division III team title with 24 points to outdistance runnerup Brookdale's 51 points. Bensaoud earned the Region 19 crown by covering the 8K course in 28 minutes, 21.99 seconds. He not easily outpaced a talented opponent in Thaddeus Stevens' Parker Stoner (29:26.36), but he turned in the fast time among all junior college participants in Divisions I, II and III.
"Strategically it was his best race of the year," said Coach Ryan Hughes. "We asked him to run relaxed in the first portion of the race and then open it up at the end and finish strong. He executed the plan perfectly."
Bensaoud had plenty of help from teammates Charlie Hepler (3rd place, 30:20.73), Branden Lachowicz (9th place, 31:45.70), Gavin Casella (16th), and John Schilling (24th).
"Everyone turned in great efforts, maybe their best of the season," said Hughes. "All of the runners were committed to improving their times, plain and simple, and they got the job done."
In the women's race, freshman Courtney O'Hara registered a second place overall finish in 21:46.30 while teammates Alexandra Campo (4th), Mackenzie Cochran (8th), Madison O'Donnell (14th) and Grace Wahl (26th) were RCSJ's top finishers to help the squad repeat as Region champions.
The Runners finished with 26 team points to edge runnerup Bergen CCC's 31 points.
"Courtney (O'Hara) ran a great race and gave us exactly what we expected," said Hughes. "Her teammates helped out by running their best races of the season."
Next up for the Runners will be the NJCAA Division III National Championship race in Huntsville, AL, Nov. 10-11, 2023.