Bethpage, N.Y. – Sophomore Anita Jepchirchir (Eldoret, Kenya) finished 40th to lead the Le Moyne College women's cross country team to a 10th-place finish at the NCAA East Region Cross Country Championships on Saturday at Bethpage State Park. Redshirt sophomore Matt Bartolotta (Syracuse, N.Y./West Genesee) placed 29th to lead the men's team to an 12th-place finish.

"This was a great way to end the season," said head coach Robin Wheeless. "Our seniors in the meet, Maggie Casey, Cayla Hungerford, Matt Sinnenberg and Olivia Snell all ran well at the regional championship. Our women finished 10th and 5th against the teams in the conference. The Men finished 12th which was 9th against the conference teams. That was two places better than we ran two weeks ago in the conference championship. It was sad to see their Le Moyne cross country careers end but I'm glad they finished it so well."
 
In the women's team competition, Southern New Hampshire University, which won the NE10 Championship 13 days ago, won the regional championship with 52 points after having three of the top seven scorers. Roberts Wesleyan University, which placed third last year, finished in second place the for the third time in the last four years with 69 points. Daemen University landed in third place with 86 points. Southern New Hampshire's Ashley Corcoran claimed the individual championship by completing the course in 21:55.40.
 
On the men's side, Southern Connecticut, which won the NE10 Championship two weeks ago, claimed the regional championship with 53 points after having all five scorers in the top 16. Also heading to the national championship in two weeks will be Franklin Pierce University, which placed second with 65 points, and Roberts Wesleyan, which placed third with 100 points to edge American International College by just one point. Franklin Pierce's Wondu Summa won the individual regional title with a first-place time of 31:27.70.
 
Jepchirchir led the women's team by covering the six-kilometer course in 23:52.9 in her regional debut. Senior Maggie Casey (Pittsford, N.Y./Pittsford Mendon) registered a 43rd-place finish in 23:58.1, improvements of 54 places and 110 places from her regional debut three years ago. Redshirt freshman Sophia Bisognano (Albany, N.Y./Colonie) recorded a time of 24:05.5, three seconds faster than last year, to place 50th, 10 places better than a year ago. Sophomore Hilda Kiprono (Eldoret, Kenya/Kapsabet Girls High School) crossed the finish line 68th with a time of 24:49.6, while senior Cayla Hungerford (Petersburgh, N.Y./New Lebanon) finished 122nd in 27:48.1, 24 places better and 2:01 faster than in her first regional in 2019.to round out the team's scorers.

Bartolotta navigated the 10-kilometer course in 33:05.0 to improve his placement by one spot and his time by over four seconds from last year. Classmate Nick Berg (Minoa, N.Y./East Syracuse-Minoa) tallied a 44th-place finish with a time of 33:50.7, seven places and 22 seconds better than last year. Sophomore Jeremy Plumley (Camden, N.Y./Camden) finished 76th in 34:53.4, improvements of two places and 24 seconds from one year ago. Classmate Jack Gibson (Ilion, N.Y./Central Valley Academy) came in 103rd in 35:50.1, while senior Matthew Sinnenberg (Burnt Hills, N.Y./Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) rounded out the team's top five scorers by placing 111th with a time of 36:14.9 in his third regional appearance.