Oct. 25, 2007

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. -The Marist men's cross country team will compete at the 2007 MAAC Cross Country Championships at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx Friday afternoon.

The Red Foxes are led by juniors Girma Segni (Bronx, N.Y.) and David Raucci (Clermont N.Y.). Both runners have been all-MAAC in cross country the past two seasons. Segni is one of Marist's fastest runners in school history at Van Cortlandt Park, where his best time of 25:13 was set this season at the Iona College Meet of Champions on Sept. 22nd. Raucci is coming off a strong race at the Albany Invitational, where his time of 24:41 set a course record.

Senior captain Mike Rolek (Maplewood, N.J.) has had a strong and consistent season thus far. He was lead runner for the first time in his career at the Manhattan/Iona Mini Meet on Oct. 16th. In order for the Red Foxes to do well at MAACs, the rest of the scoring pack will need to work together and close gaps. Junior John Keenan (Centereach, N.Y.), sophomore Connor Shelley (Rockville Centre, N.Y.), and freshman Timothy Keegan (Huntington, N.Y.) are all coming off strong races at Albany.

At last year's championship meet Marist finished second behind Iona, who won the MAAC title for the 16th consecutive time. Segni, Raucci, and Shelley all finished in the top-10 last season, earning all-MAAC selections. The men's 8K race will be held at 1:45 p.m. Friday afternoon.