College Roundup Treacy’s Friars outrun Byrne’s Gaels at Van Cortlandt

By John Manley

Providence College’s Keith Kelly won the NCAA Northeast Regional Cross Country Championship at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx for the second straight year last Saturday. The senior from Drogheda posted a time of 30 minutes, 33.2 seconds for 10,000 meters. Providence coach Ray Treacy received enough support from Kelly’s teammates for the Friars to outscore Mick Byrne’s Iona Gaels, 27-75.

The Friars also took the second and third slots, with Dermot Galvin accounting for seventh place. The junior from Kilrush, Co. Clare, was timed in 31:10.4. Providence also sent out Larry Morrissey, a Waterford senior, to a 14th place finish (a 31:38.2 clocking) and Ciaran Lynch, a Limerick senior, to an 18th-place run (31:45.8).

Iona’s Vinny Mulvey, a senior from Ashbourne, Co. Meath, was the fifth man across in 31:07.0. He was joined on the course by teammate Tom Carey, a senior from Castleconnell, Co. Limerick, who was 20th to finish, with a time of 31:51.8. Brown’s Enda Johnson took 11th place, crossing the finish line in 31:31.5. He’s a junior from County Monaghan. Brown placed sixth in the team standings.

Providence finished fourth in the women’s race. Sophomore Roisin McGettigan was 15th in 21:09.7 and Kathryn Casserly was 28th in 21:26.5. McGettigan is a sophomore from Wicklow, while Casserly is a junior from Galway. Harvard’s Mairead O’Callaghan, a freshman from Limerick, placed 40th, in 21:48.6. Her team finished 10th. Boston College won the team trophy over Yale, 47-56, and featured the first woman to finish in Megan Guiney, who ran the 6,000 meters in 20:26.1.

Fairleigh Dickinson’s Aiden Walsh placed 54th in the Mid-Atlantic Regionals in State College, Pa. The Dublin junior got the 10,000-meter course in 30:21.06. Teammate Stephen Ondieki was first to finish in 30:21.06. FDU finished sixth in the team standings, which was topped by Georgetown. Marcus O’Sullivan’s Villanova Wildcats were second.

The Villanova women placed third in their 6,000-meter event, which also went to Georgetown. The Wildcats’ Geraldine McCarthy, a senior from Listowel, Co. Kerry, was 10th in 21:11.33. Her teammate Ann McGranahan had the winning time of 20:32.34.

In the Southeast region, Western Kentucky’s women ran to an 11th place finish in Greenville, S.C. Sophomore Olga Cronin led the Lady Toppers by placing 12th of 187 runners. Her time was 21:58. Behind her came teammates Valerie Lynch, a senior, who was 41st in 23:00, Terri Hennessy, a junior, who was 79th in 23:45, and senior Lisa Cronin, who was 114th in 24:23. All the Western Kentucky women are from Cork. North Carolina’s Shalane Flanagan won the race in 20:51.

Kerry freshman Enda Grandfield represented Western Kentucky in the men’s race. His 30th-place finish was accomplished with a clocking of 31:47. The Hilltoppers took 13th place in the 28-team field. Duke’s Terry Brennan was the winner in 30:37.

The Southern regional in Tuscaloosa, Ala., found South Alabama’s Brian Murray finishing ninth, with a 31:38.52 clocking. Not far behind him was South Florida’s Barry Egan, who took 16th place in 32:00.15. Murray’s a senior from Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, while Egan, a junior, hails from Caher, Co. Tipperary. Alabama’s David Kimani won this race in 30:25.15. South Florida finished second behind Alabama in the team standings. Murray ran as an individual.

South Alabama’s Wendy Davis, a Belfast junior, finished 17th in the women’s division. She was timed in 21:35.63 in a race won by Tennessee’s Sharon Dickie. Her time was 20:38.79. Davis ran as an individual.

Men’s soccer

Rhode Island was down, 2-0, in the 64th minute of its NCAA play-in match with Georgia State when Gareth Elliott went to work. The junior forward from Belfast scored two goals in less than six minutes to pull the Rams even. After a Georgia State goal in the 87th minute, Rhode Island retaliated with just over a minute left on the clock. The Rams (16-5-1) scored the winning goal in the fourth overtime minute.

Rhode Island will host Boston College in a first round NCAA contest on Friday. Boston College won the Big East championship by defeating Seton Hall, 2-1. The Eagles advanced with a 1-0 semifinal victory over Rutgers. Dublin native Ed Kelly coaches Boston College.

David Pedreschi assisted on North Carolina-Charlotte’s only goal in their 2-1 overtime loss to Louisville. The Conference USA semifinal match loss brought the curtain down on the 49ers’ season at 8-9-2. Pedreschi, a junior from Dublin, finished the season with six assists. Teammate David McGill, a freshman from Dublin, had one goal and seven assists in his initial collegiate campaign.

San Diego is a step closer to returning to the final four. Seamus McFadden’s Toreros won the West Coast Conference championship by downing St. Mary’s, 3-1. San Diego, ranked fifth in the country, is 15-1-2 overall and 5-0-1 in the WCC. Next up is UCLA at home on Sunday in the NCAAs. McFadden is from Donegal.

Vermont defeated Hofstra, 2-1, in overtime in the America East championship match. Roy Patton’s Catamounts (13-7-1) advance to the NCAA playoffs and are pitted against Brown on the road on Sunday. Coach Patton is from Belfast.

Clemson and Wake Forest were knotted at 2 after double overtime, so the teams reverted to penalty kicks to decide a winner. Trevor Adair’s Clemson squad (13-3-2) fell short, 3-1, and were eliminated from the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. The NCAA didn’t overlook them, however. First-round action finds the Tigers hosting Furman on Sunday. Adair is also from Belfast.

Penn State defeated Michigan State, 2-1, in a Big Ten semifinal match at Ohio State in Columbus. The host Buckeyes then beat Barry Gorman’s Nittany Lions, 3-2, in overtime in the championship tilt.

Old Dominion’s season ended with a 2-0 loss to William & Mary in a Colonial Athletic Association semifinal contest. ODU closed the 2000 campaign at 10-6-2. Coach Dawson is a Belfast man.

Christian Brothers lost to Barry, 4-0, in an NCAA Div. II first-round playoff match. Gareth O’Sullivan’s Buccaneers went 16-5-0 this season. O’Sullivan is from Ballina, Co. Mayo.

Dartmouth ended the regular season with a 4-1 loss to Brown. Fran O’Leary’s Big Green are now 12-5-0 overall and 5-2-0 against other Ivies. They travel to UConn on Sunday to face the Huskies in a first-round NCAA match. O’Leary is a Dubliner.

Golf

Toledo wrapped up the fall campaign with a sixth-place finish in the Henry Griffits Classic at the Ridgewood Country Club in Waco, Texas. Sophomore David Jones from Derry tied for 22nd place with a 54-hole score of eight-over-par 218 (73-73-72). Junior Alan Murray, from Bray, Co. Wicklow, gained a slice of 47th place at 222 (75-73-74). Baylor’s Jimmy Walker was the medallist at

206. Southeastern Louisiana won the team trophy.