Since 2016, Stony Brook Men's Cross Country has been arguably the best team the university has had to offer as they claimed their second consecutive Coastal Athletic Association title this past Friday in Mechanicsville, Virginia
They have won five conference titles in the last eight years that dates back to their days in the America East which came to an abrupt end in the middle of the 2021-22 competition year when the University had reached an agreement to move all their sports to the CAA to match up with their football program that already was a member of the conference.
The Seawolves were dominant as they had six of their scoring seven place in the top 15, good enough to make All-Conference, and take home the team title with 36 points, besting second place Northeastern University by 13 points.
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| The Stony Brook Men's Cross Country Team SBU Athletics |
“I thought the guys were fantastic today. They handled the pressure of being defending champions and the very warm conditions like professionals,” Head coach and former Olympic Marathoner Andy Ronan said in a press release following the team’s victory. “While not all of them had their best run, they competed for each other. I'm so very proud of all 12 guys that tied the line this morning. In my time at Stony Brook we've been through every possible situation on and off the course. We've been on both ends of the stick winning and losing, but seeing a talented young group of guys just show up, face adversity, running for each other is huge. After all the hard work we put in the summer, you're working for moments like these.”
The Seawolves will have some time to enjoy their victory, but their focus will now shift towards the biggest race of the year as they will venture out to the historic Van Cortlandt Park in Riverdale to compete in the NCAA Division I Regional Championship with a chance to make the NCAA Championships as a team, a feat that has surprisingly eluded the team despite all the success in recent years.
The men's team is currently ranked fourth in the region according to USTFCCCA and if they find a way to knock off one of the top three teams in the region, they will have a shot at making it all the way to the NCAA Cross Country Championships in Panorama Farms in Charlottesville, Virginia.