CENTER VALLEY, Pa. – Army’s Johnny Valeri won the Iona Meet of Champions to earn his first M-F Athletic Patriot League Male Runner of the Week, while Lehigh’s Hannah Bonaguidi won her second race in two weeks to earn the Female Runner of the Week when honors were announced by the League office on Tuesday afternoon.
Army freshman Roman Ollar used a fifth-place finish at the Iona Meet of Champions to earn Male Rookie of the Week. Colgate’s Vicky Martinez earned a second-place finish at the Binghamton Invite to earn the Female Rookie of the Week Award.
ARMY MEN WIN AT IONA MEET OF CHAMPIONS
Valeri earned an individual win and was the first of five Black that finished in the top six to help claim the team title in the 8-team field. Matt Bearden, Jacob Fong, Roman Ollar and Ben Patrella finished third through sixth, respectively. On the women’s side Bethany Nunnery finished ninth overall to lead Army to a third place finish in the 10-team field.
LEHIGH VS. LAFAYETTE DUAL MEET
The Lehigh men defeated Lafayette 15-50, as the Mountain Hawks were led by Jack Curran, who finished first in 27:30.89. The first 16 finishers were from Lehigh, as Lafayette’s Tyler Pressl was the first Leopard to cross the finish line, with a time of 28:27.64.
On the women’s side Bonaguidi led the way, finishing first in 22:07.88, as Lehigh won, 18-44. The Leopard’s Emily Moore finished in 22:45.45, third overall.
COLGATE MEN & WOMEN EACH FINISH SECOND
The Raiders men and women both finished behind Binghamton and in front of St. Bonaventure at the Binghamton Invite on Saturday morning. Jonathan Abbott led the Colgate men with a 10th place finish, while Vicky Martinez finished second overall on the women’s side.
FULL WEEKEND FOR THE CRUSADERS
Holy Cross competed at the National Catholic Championship in South Bend, Ind. on Friday, as the men took finished 10th in the 11-team field, while the women finished seventh. On Saturday, they competed in the Shriner Invitational in Dartmouth, Mass., as the men finished 17th out of 33 teams, while the women finished fourth of 37 teams. The Crusader’s Elizabeth Lombardo finished 18th overall in 18:51.70.
NAVY MEN WIN CAPPY ANDERSON CROSS COUNTRY INVITATIONAL
The Navy men took first place at the Cappy Anderson Invitational, as Ryan Speir finished second overall, with four more Mids finishing directly behind him to take six of the first seven places.
M-F ATHLETE MALE RUNNER OF THE WEEK
Johnny Valeri, Army, Jr., Pembroke, Mass.
Valeri crossed the finish line first at the Iona Meet of Champions with a time of 25:52.1, while leading the Black Knights to a first place finish over Albany and Quinnipiac. Valeri and Army won on the course at Van Cortlandt Park that will be the site of this year’s NCAA Northeast Regional.
M-F ATHLETE FEMALE RUNNER OF THE WEEK
Hannah Bonaguidi, Lehigh, Fr., Frenchtown, N.J.
Bonaguidi, the defending Patriot League Rookie of the Week, finished first of 25 runners in a dual meet with Lafayette on Saturday. It was the second win for Bonaguidi in as many weeks. She finished the course in 22:07.88 and was the only runner to average a sub-six minute mile (5:56.1) on the hilly Lafayette course.
M-F ATHLETE MALE ROOKIE RUNNER OF THE WEEK
Roman Ollar, Army, Fr., West Linn, Ore.
Ollar finished fifth overall at the Iona Meet of Champions, helping Army capture the team title. Ollar finished the course in a time of 26:00.3.
M-F ATHLETE FEMALE ROOKIE RUNNER OF THE WEEK
Vicky Martinez, Colgate, Fr., Mount Kisco, N.Y.
Martinez earned second-place at the Binghamton Invite, finishing the 5,000 meter course in 19:33.1. The time was one second faster than her time in her first collegiate race, the Harry Lang Invite.
HONORABLE MENTION
Jonathon Abbott, Colgate, So., Manilus, N.Y.
Abbott edged out teammate Watson Hanson as Colgate’s top finisher at the Binghamton Invite. Abbott finished the 7,800 meter course in 26:46.1.
Bethany Nunnery, Army, Fr., Kingstown, R.I.
Nunnery finished ninth overall at the Iona Meet of Champions with a time of 18:41.6 to help Army to a third place finish overall.