PHILADELPHIA (Oct. 30, 2022) - History was made Sunday morning at Belmont Plateau. For the first time in the 10 year history of the Georgian Court Men's Cross Country program, they are bringing a Central Atlantic Collegiate Championship back to Lakewood! The Lion men placed three in the top-10 and five in the top-20, scoring 59 points and beating second-place Jefferson by just six points. 

The CACC Championships were held in Philadelphia at Belmont Plateau, a challenging course the Lions were familiar with having raced there in September. All the competitors raced hard making it an honest race, and all four Lions who finished the race in September, improved their time over the 8K course by more than a minute.

Like they have all season, Kyle Spector and Alec Valle helped lead the team, each placing in the top-10. But a number of Lions stepped up when it mattered most after having inconsistent starts to their seasons. Battling back from injuries, last year's individual champion, Xavier Seals put together his best race of the season to finish in the top-10. Georgian Court's belief in seniors Will Spector and Kevin Knoetig, who had completed just five of a possible 10 races during the season, paid off as they both finished in the top-20 and displaced two Jefferson runners which proved to be the difference in the scoring. 

Kyle Spector was the Lions first scorer. He placed fourth running 27:39.0. Spector was second at the meet on this course in September, but still improved his time by 66 seconds. Xavier Seals finished second for the Lions in seventh place with a time of 27:50.6 and Alec Valle was 10th in 27:59.1. Valle's time was an improvement by 90 seconds from his first race at Belmont Plateau.

Will Spector and Kevin Knoetig completed the top-five for GCU. Spector ran 28:42.8 and Knoetig crossed the line in 29:05.8. Joseph Jamolawicz and Riley Keffer rounded out the field for GCU. Jamolawicz improved his time on this course by 92 seconds and finished 22nd running 29:24.3. Keffer was 24th overall, running 29:43.2 which was nearly two minutes ahead of his race in September.

The CACC individual champion was Tilak Datta from Caldwell. He raced by himself, winning by nearly a full minute running 26:30.8. He bested the field of 73 who finished the race.

Not only was this the first Georgian Court men's CACC Championship in program history, it's also the first CACC Cross Country Championship for Head Coach Mike Murawski on either the men's or women's side. 

The Lion women had a strong day themselves finishing in sixth place and scoring 132 points. Just like the men, all five Lion women who competed in the 5K race greatly improved upon their time from the race on this course in September. 

Amirah Beasley and Brenna Sullivan did a nice job working together and finished nine seconds apart. Beasley took 20th overall running 21:59.5, a season-best for a 5K race this season and a 99 second improved from her race here in September. Sullivan placed 22nd overall in 22:08.4, also a 5K PR. She cut her time down on the course by more than two minutes.

Not only did all five runners improve their time at Belmont from early September, but all five set season-best times for a 5K race. Ashlee Pataky was the third GCU Lion to cross, running 22:50.6, besting her September time by 130 seconds. Madalin Jones and Selma Cazimoska rounded out the field for Georgian Court. Jones finished 37th overall in 23:27.5 and Cazimoska was 40th in 23:58.2. Jones' time was nearly two full minutes ahead of her race at Belmont in September and Cazimoska bested her time by nearly two and a half minutes.

Felician captured the women's team championship. They scored 34 points and finished seven points ahead of second-place Jefferson. The Golden Falcons' Briseidy Balderas was the individual winner running 20:02.4 among the field of 70 competitors.

The season isn't over for the Lions. They'll be at the NCAA East Regional Championship Saturday, November 19 in Farmingdale, N.Y. at Bethpage State Park.