Ramapo College’s men and women’s cross-country teams delivered strong performances at the NCAA Metro Regional Championships, hosted by Stockton University. The men’s team finished 11th overall, while the women’s team secured eighth place.
Leading the men’s team was junior Ryan Pena, who achieved a personal best of 25:23.9 in the 8K race to finish 14th overall, earning NCAA Metro All-Region honors. Despite facing a knee injury just before the race, Pena pushed through.
“My goal for regionals was to go all out and make it into nationals,” Pena shared in an email to The Ramapo News. “Unfortunately, the day before the race I ended up injuring my knee. I was limping and couldn’t do my regular warm up drills. I was contemplating on not running the race, but I knew I had to show up for not only myself but for Ramapo.”
Pena missed qualifying for nationals by two spots, but his determination set the tone for the team. Sophomore Julian Mignone and senior Mohamed Nidaazzi crossed the line back-to-back with times of 27:10.3 and 27:11.7, respectively. Sophomore Brandon Meneses clocked in at 27:24.5, and freshman James Brill rounded out the top five for Ramapo with a time of 27:45.1.
“It has been an honor to run with my team this year. I believe we’ve hit a bigger and greater milestone than the past few years that I’ve been here,” Pena said.
Pena continued to reflect on the team’s progress, “We’ve improved our team culture and that’s the reason I got to where I’m at. We’ve had some solid performances by all our athletes and the fight doesn’t end at regionals. Regionals have left us hungrier. Coming off of cross country set us up for indoor and we are ready for it.”
The women’s team was led by sophomore Dale Leonard, who earned All-Region honors with a third-place finish. Leonard recorded a season-best time of 22:10.9, securing her spot at the NCAA Championship Meet next weekend. Her finish also marked her as the top New Jersey Athletic Conference runner in the regional meet.
“I am very excited to represent Ramapo at nationals because it will help to shine a lot on how much work my team has been putting in this year,” Leonard said in an email to The Ramapo News. “Making it this far would not have been possible without the support of my coach and teammates.”
Leonard also emphasized the importance of a supportive environment, “The team has done a great job of motivating each other throughout the season. We have been constantly encouraging each other to keep pushing forward during every workout and race.”
Another Roadrunner, senior Zoey Cassavell, also earned All-Region honors with a time of 23:38.9, finishing second for the team. “Our team improved over the season and it was so much fun being a part of this team. I am very proud of all the women who gave it their all this season and worked so hard and it showed at regionals,” Cassavell said in an email to The Ramapo News.
Sophomore Zoe Gregory delivered a solid performance with a time of 24:09.4, followed closely by freshman Elena Guzman finishing with a time of 24:18.9. Freshman Jasmin Silva-Vargas rounded out the team’s top five finishers, crossing the line in 24:52.6.
Ramapo College men and women’s teams finished their season off strong, as some look ahead to run indoors this winter. As for Leonard, the season is not over yet. She will travel to Terre Haute, IN this weekend to run at the 2024 NCAA Cross Country Championships.
lkelyman@ramapo.edu
Featured photo courtesy of Ramapo Athletics
