The Men's and Women's Roadrunner Cross Country programs are ready to hit the ground running for their 2023 campaign.  Both teams will open up their seasons this weekend at the Philly Metro Small College Championships at the historic Belmont Plateau in Fairmount Park, PA.  The teams are led by some returning stars from last year as well as an infusion of energy from some new recruits.  

 

The men return a large nucleus from 2022 with Charlie Hepler, Derek Wyllie, and John Schilling pacing the Roadrunners with their experience.  Anas Bensaoud will also return in the Roadrunner uniform after earning All-American honors for RCSJ in spring track (1500m, 5000m.)  Joining the college racing ranks for the first time will be a duo from Kingsway High School in Gavin Casella and Darius Davis, as well as Delsea's Branden Lachowicz.  Last season the men were barely edged out by Brookdale CC for the Region 19 title, but they are primed for revenge and are looking to sweep the titles in 2023. 

 

The lady Roadrunners return two members of the 2022 Region 19 Championship team with Mackenzie Cochran and Susanna Serrano.  Both of these ladies earned All-Region honors last season.  Like the men, the women are also gaining a track athlete in Alexandra Campo (All-Region 10,000m) who will represent the royal and yellow again this season.  New to the team and looking to make a big and immediate impact will be Courtney O'Hara (Gateway) and Madison O'Donnell (Williamstown).  The ladies are poised to repeat as Region 19 Champions and are looking forward to the season ahead.

 

 

Coach Ryan Hughes enters his 21^st season at the helm of the men's and women's programs.  During his tenure in cross country, the teams have won 17 Region Championships, 2 NJCAA National Championships, as well as placing in the National top 5 on 9 other occasions .  Coach Hughes' athletes have earned 31 All-American honors, 80 All-Region honors, and he was named National XC Coach of the Year on 3 occasions.  Coach Hughes commented the following on the upcoming season,

 

"We are excited for the upcoming season and are looking forward to seeing what we can do as we continue to get into racing shape.  The teams have very good leadership from both the returning and new members, and they are pushing each other to get better every day.  We are also anticipating some more additions to the team over the next weeks to make the teams even stronger.  I think we have an excellent shot at winning Region 19, placing higher than last year at NJCAAs, and bringing home some new All-Americans!"

 

The Philly Metro Small College Championships will take place on Sept. 9 with the women running at 9:00 and the men at 9:45.  The women will race 5k while the men face 8k on the Belmont Plateau course.  Be sure to check back later for results.