NCAA Atlantic Region Championships

GLASSBORO, NJ – Rowan University will host the 2016 NCAA Division III Men's and Women's Cross Country Atlantic Region Championships on Saturday, Nov. 12.  The course is at the University's West Campus.  The women's race is at 11 a.m. followed by the men at noon.
 
Men's Preview
Geneseo looks to repeat as the Atlantic Region champion after winning its third title last year.  The Knights are ranked first in the region and second in the nation.  Geneseo won the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Championship and runners Isaac Garcia-Cassani and Alfredo Mazzuca finished first (24:54.1) and second (25:05.8) respectively for the second straight year.  The Knights' Alex Kramer followed in third place (25:22.4).  Garcia-Cassani was the individual champion (25:11.1) at the 2015 regional and Mazzuca took fifth (25:26.2).  Oneonta came in second at the SUNYAC Championships.  Anthony Lupia had a fourth place (25:26.3) and David Busby was fifth (25:34.1).  At last year's regional, Busby finished 17^th overall (25:53.2) and Oneonta was 10^th in the team scoring.  
 
RPI captured the Liberty League title and ended St. Lawrence's 21 straight championships streak. For the Engineers, Ben Fazio and Grant O'Connor were first (25:23) and second (25:27) respectively.  Fazio had a fourth place (25:22.6) at the 2015 regional.  St. Lawrence took second in the team scoring at the Liberty League Championships and Thomas Caulfield finished third (25:34).  He was the runner-up (25:18.0) at the regional last year and teammate Joseph Smith was third (25:18.0).  RPI is second in the region and ninth in the national rankings while St. Lawrence is fourth and 22^nd in the region and nation respectively.  At the 2015 regional, St. Lawrence came in second and RPI was sixth.  St. Lawrence won the Atlantic Region Championship in 2014.   
 
In the rankings, NYU is third in the region and 20^th in the nation.  At the University Athletic Association Championships, the Violets were fourth in the team scoring.  They finished fifth at the regional last year.  The College of New Jersey is sixth in the region rankings.  This season, the Lions won their 23^rd consecutive New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Championship.  Ramapo's Jeremy Hernandez captured the NJAC individual title and TCNJ's Andrew Tedeschi was the runner-up.  Tedeschi came in 12^th (25:43.9) at the 2015 Atlantic Region Championships.      
 
Women's Preview
Geneseo is the defending NCAA Atlantic Region Champion. Last year, the Knights won their eighth region championship and first since 2008.  They had won five straight championships from 2004-2008.  The Knights are ranked first in the region rankings and third in the nation.

This season, Geneseo took its sixth straight SUNYAC Championship.  Sara Rosenzweig was the individual winner (21:46.6) and Marissa Cossaro was second (21:51.0).  Rosenzweig was also the conference champion in 2015. Oneonta finished second in the team scoring at the SUNYAC Championships and Rachel Shine took third overall (21:55.9).  She finished 19^th (22:40.6) in the region last year. The Red Dragons are third in the region and 14^th in the nation. 
 
Ithaca College captured its 14^th consecutive Empire 8 Championship.  Taryn Cordani was the runner-up while Stevens' Amy Regan recorded her fourth individual title.  Last year, Cordani had a second place (21:56.7) at the Atlantic Region Championships.  Regan captured the individual region and national championship in 2014.  Stevens finished second in the team scoring at the Empire 8 Championships.  In the region, Stevens is ranked fifth followed by St. Lawrence, sixth.    
 
RPI won the Liberty League Championship and St. Lawrence took second.  All five of the Engineers' runners were in the top 10.  Jamie Lord finished second (22:28) while St. Lawrence's Megan Kellogg repeated as the individual champion (22:07).  At the 2015 region championships, Kellogg was the individual winner (21:44.6) and Lord finished fifth (22:07.2).  St. Lawrence won the 2014 region team title.  RPI is the fourth team in the region rankings and 16^th in the nation. 
 
NCAA Qualifiers
The top two team finishers in each race qualify for the NCAA Division III Championships on Saturday, Nov. 19 at E.P. Tom Sawyer Park in Louisville, KY.  Sixteen other at-large bids will be awarded from the nation's eight total regions.  The top seven individual finishers from each region not on one of the team qualifiers will earn an invitation to the national championships.
 
Directions and Parking
Directions to Rowan University are available at the regional website.  The GPS address to the West Campus is 123 Neal Road, Glassboro, NJ 08028.
 
There is parking in the grass lot next to the turf fields across 322 from Peach Country Tractor.  Parking will be permitted in the grass area off of Neal Road.  Overflow parking will be at the Tech Park across 322 from the West Campus.  Spectators will be shuttled across 322 to the course.  No spectators will be allowed to walk across 322 from the Tech Park.