Iona harriers cruise to Met title

Iona had the first finisher in Richard Kiplagat, who came in with a time of 24:26.0. Sligo sophomore Mark Smyth finished fourth in 24:59.2. The Gaels’ Sean Connolly, a sophomore from Tallaght, Co. Dublin, was 15th in 26:00.6.
East Tennessee State’s James Grufferty, a sophomore from Glanmire, Co. Cork, finished eighth in the Southern Conference Championship in Hollywood, S.C. He posted a time of 25:17.70. Teammate Peter Dalton, a freshman from Dublin, was 22nd to report in. His time was 26:03.46. Gediminas Banevicius of Tenn.-Chattanooga had the winning time of 24:50.20. Appalachian State was the top team. ETSU was fourth in the standings.
The Big South Championships went off in Rock Hill, S.C. High Point’s Tommy Evans produced a second-place finish in the men’s division. His 24:52 clocking trailed only Coastal Carolina’s Terah Kipchirus, who broke the tape in 24:40.72. Coastal also produced the women’s winner in Anne Marie Moutsinga, who finished in 17:06.70. Birmingham Southern’s Francine Meehan, a junior from Tullamore, Co. Offaly, finished in 39th place in 20:38.
Arkansas Tech’s Siobhan Lenihan placed fourth in the Gulf South Conference Championship. The junior from Charleville, Co. Cork came in with a time of 18:23. Harding’s Janet Kogo won the race in 17:23.
Providence’s Roisin McGettigan, a senior from Wicklow, and Mary Cullen, a sophomore from Sligo, were fifth and sixth, respectively, in the Big East Conference Cross Country Championship at Franklin Park in Boston. Their times were 20:38 and 20:40, respectively. Behind them came Deirdre Byrne, a sophomore from Avoca, Co. Wicklow, who was 33rd in 22:04, Emer O’Shea, a Limerick senior, who was 35th in 22:12, and Roisin Quinn, a sophomore from Waterford, who was 51st in 22:42. Notre Dame’s Lauren King won the race with a time of 20:23.
The Friars’ Adam Sutton won the men’s division with a time of 23:33. The Irish contingent consisted of Patrick Guidera, a sophomore from Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, who was 18th in 24:34, and Martin Fagan, a freshman from Mullingar, Co. Westmeath, who finished 30th in 25:08.

MEN’S SOCCER
George Mason freshman Damian O’Rourke from Shannon was named Colonial Athletic Association Rookie of the Week recently. O’Rourke, who plays fullback, assisted on the first goal and headed in a corner kick in a 4-0 victory over North Carolina-Wilmington. He was cited for that and his defensive play.
Kilkenny sophomore David Quinn also had a goal and an assist for Mason in the Wilmington victory. Sophomore keeper John O’Hara, from Foxford, Co. Mayo, made six saves.
Mason then lost to Towson, 3-1, with O’Hara stopping five shots. They then rebounded with a 4-0 thumping of Delaware. Quinn assisted on two goals. O’Hara stopped three shots and earned his seventh shutout of the season. George Mason, coached by Dublin native Fran O’Leary, is 8-5-3 overall and 3-2-1 in the CAA.
Alan McNamara set up three goals to help Boston University defeat Vermont, 5-2. McNamara is a junior from Woodview, Raheen, Co. Limerick. Freshman Ronan Keegan had one of Vermont’s scores. He is a Dubliner. B.U. improved to 8-6-2 overall and 3-3-1 in the America East, while Vermont’s numbers are
10-6-1 and 5-2-1. Belfast native Roy Patton coaches Vermont.
Eoin Lynch provided the margin of victory for Providence in the Friars’ 4-2 triumph over Pittsburgh. The Dublin native scored the winning goal and added an insurance booster in the 90th minute. Lynch, a freshman, now has seven goals for the season. Teammate Greg Bennett, a junior from Dublin, assisted on a tally in a 3-2 overtime win against Quinnipiac. Providence is 6-10-0 overall and 4-5-0 in the Big East.
Gareth Hayden went on a scoring binge last week. The senior from Dublin beat the keeper on a one-on-one as Winthrop defeated Elon, 3-1. The Eagles then outlasted Radford, 7-6, with Hayden booting in three goals. He opened the festivities against South Carolina, when he stole the ball, then went one-on-one with the netminder, putting the ball in with a shot off the right corner post. That would be all the scoring that Winthrop would manage, however, as they lost to the Gamecocks, 5-1. Winthrop is 11-5-1 overall. Hayden has 11 goals thus far this season.
Rio Grande, ranked no. 1 in the NAIA, wrapped up the regular season with victories over Walsh, 2-1, and Union (Ky.), 3-1. Michael McManus earned an assist in the Walsh victory, while Jon Leonard and Kevin McCloskey did likewise against Union. The trio hails from Belfast and are seniors. Rio is 15-0-1.
Neil Harrington assisted on one goal as Scranton defeated DeSales, 4-2. Harrington is a freshman from Wicklow. Scranton is 7-11-0 overall and 5-2-0 in the MAC Freedom Conference.
Bryan Harkin’s corner kick set up the winning goal as Fairfield downed Manhattan, 1-0. Harkin is a senior from Derry. The Stags are 8-6-3 overall and 5-1-0 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
Andy O’Boyle, a Belfast freshman, accounted for an unassisted goal in Rhode Island’s 3-2 loss to George Washington. Rhode Island is 11-8-0 overall and 6-4-0 against Atlantic 10 Conference foes.
Bowdoin, coached by Dublin’s Brian Ainscough, played Bates to a scoreless tie on Saturday. Bowdoin is now 10-2-2.
Wingate won its fifth and sixth successive matches last week. The victims were Mars Hill, 2-1, and UNC-Pembroke, 6-1. Wingate, coached by Belfast native Gary Hamill, is 12-6-1.
The curtain fell on the 2002 season for Gareth O’Sullivan’s Christian Brothers men’s team with a pair of 4-0 losses. The Bucs first fell to Memphis rival Rhodes, then to West Florida in a first-round Gulf South Conference match. CBU finished with a 7-10-2 record. O’Sullivan hails from Ballina, Co. Mayo.
New York University lost to Carnegie Mellon, 2-0, then played Emory to a 1-1 tie. The Violets, coached by Joe Behan from Ringsend, Dublin, are 10-6-2 overall and 2-4-1 in the University Athletic Association.
Wins over Brown (in overtime) and Villanova by identical 2-1 scores have boosted Boston College’s record to 11-4-0 overall and 7-2-0 in the Big East. Dubliner Ed Kelly coached the Eagles.
Clemson appears poised to drop in the rankings. The no. 6 Tigers suffered losses to Maryland, 1-0, and North Carolina, 3-1, around a 1-1 tie with Davidson. Belfast native Trevor Adair coaches Clemson, which is 10-3-3 overall and 2-3-1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
After working out a 1-all tie with James Madison, Old Dominion defeated 19th-ranked Virginia Commonwealth, 1-0, in two overtime periods. Belfast native Alan Dawson coaches the Monarchs, which are 9-6-1 overall and 6-1-1 in the CAA.
Gonzaga needed two overtimes to deliver a 3-2 defeat upon San Diego, coached by Seamus McFadden, a Donegal man. San Diego is now 12-5-0 overall.

WOMEN’S SOCCER
Christian Brothers won the Gulf South Conference tournament with two victories by identical 5-1 scores. Margaret Saurin scored one goal in each victory, which came at the expense of Alabama-Huntsville and West Florida. The Lady Bucs tuned up for the tournament with a 2-1 victory over intracity rival Memphis in two overtimes. Saurin, a senior from Dublin, also scored in this outing. Gareth O’Sullivan also coaches the CBU women.
Lewis University ended their season with a 2-2 tie against SIU-Edwardsville. Caroline Kenny, a sophomore from Leixlip, Co. Kildare, assisted on one goal. She got into only five matches this season and finished with one goal and one assist for Lewis, which was 0-13-1.
Charlene Reynolds scored a goal in Slippery Rock’s 3-1 victory over Gannon. Reynolds is a freshman from Ennis, Co. Clare. The Rock, coached by Cork native Noreen Herlihy, followed with a 2-1 win over Bloomsburg, a 2-0 loss to Lock Haven and a 2-0 win over East Stroudsburg. Slippery Rock is now 10-6-1 overall and 5-5-1 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference.
Debbie McGuinness was responsible for Lindsey Wilson College’s only goal in a 2-1 loss to Union (Ky.). McGuinness is a sophomore from Dundalk. Wilson is 11-5-0.
Hofstra registered 3-0 victories over Towson and Delaware. Elaine O’Connor, a senior from Dublin, assisted on one goal against Towson. She and Emma Kilduff, a sophomore from Co. Kildare, then were credited with assists against Delaware. Hofstra is 13-4-1 overall and 6-3-0 in the CAA.
Aisling Callaghan picked up an assist as Northern Kentucky, top-ranked in Div. II, thrashed Kentucky Wesleyan, 6-0. Callaghan is a junior from Dublin. She has seven goals and six assists this season. NKU is 17-0-2.
The party’s over for Quinnipiac. The Braves lost to Monmouth, 2-1, to end the 2002 campaign at 3-12-1 overall and 3-4-1 in Northeast Conference play. Dave Clarke, originally from Donaghmede, Dublin, coaches Quinnipiac.
Hamilton tied SUNY Oneonta, 1-1, and defeated Manhattanville, 3-0, last week. Coached by Colette Gilligan, formerly of Finglas, Dublin, Hamilton is 7-4-3 overall and 4-2-1 in the Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association.
There doesn’t seem to be any stopping Keene State. The Owls upped their season record to 17-2-1 with victories over UMass-Dartmouth, 3-0, Anna Maria, 5-0, and UMass-Boston, 3-0. Denise Lyons, from Newcastle West, Co. Limerick, coaches Keene, undefeated in seven Little East Conference matches.

TENNIS
California’s Catherine Lynch, a junior from Dublin, advanced to the quarterfinal round of the ITA Northwest Regional Championship before she was eliminated. She began with a victory over San Francisco’s Gabriela Ruiz, 6-4, 6-4. She then defeated Portland’s Kaori Tanabe, 6-1, 6-0, and Cal Poly’s Danielle Husted, 7-5, 6-4, before losing to Sacramento State’s Margarita Karnaukhova, 6-4, 6-2.

GOLF
Rhode Island’s James Clarke and Kenneth Fahey both placed in the top 20 at the NEIGA Championship, played at the Port/Starboard Captains Course in Brewster, Mass. Clarke, a junior from Belfast, tied for 11th place at 152 (77-75), with Fahey, a freshman from Clifden, Co. Galway, a stroke behind at 153 (83-70), which tied him for 17th position. The low score was 148. Rhode Island won the team title.
Southeast Louisiana’s Mark O’Sullivan tied for seventh place in the Baylor Invitational at the Bear Ridge Golf Course in Waco, Texas. The Galway senior’s 212 (71-68-73) left him eight strokes shy of Southern Methodist’s Brock Mulder, the medallist. SMU won the team trophy as Southeast tied for sixth, 16 strokes behind.
South Alabama’s Gareth Maybin also found himself in seventh place, but at the Coca-Cola Tournament of Champions at Holston Hills Country Club in Knoxville, Tenn. The sophomore from Co. Antrim shot 209 (67-70-72) to finish five strokes behind Vanderbilt’s Brandt Snedeker, who topped the leaderboard. Georgia was the winning team. South Alabama finished in eight place, 32 strokes behind the champions.
Toledo ventured out to The Nelson Invitational at Stanford University’s Golf Course in California. Freshman Richard Kilpatrick from Banbridge, Co. Down, tied for 20th place at 215 (71-72-72). Senior Sean McTernan from Sligo tied for 37th place at 220 (74-73-73), while David Jones, a senior from Derry, tied for 65th place at 225 (73-75-77). Duke’s Leif Olson was medallist at 201. Duke took the team crown, with Toledo in ninth place, 27 strokes behind.