HOLMDEL, NJ – Siena's men's & women's cross country teams replicated program bests from last season at the 2019 MAAC Cross Country Championships Saturday morning. The men placed second and the women took third for the second straight year, marking the first time that either team has placed inside the top-3 in consecutive seasons at any point during their 31-year stretch in the league.

Competing at Holmdel Park in Holmdel, New Jersey, the men's team held a 21-point margin over the next best team, scoring 81 points to finish behind conference juggernaut Iona, who posted a clean sweep of the top five spots en-route to its 29^th consecutive title. The women scored 81 points to top host school Monmouth by 47 points, trailing behind only Marist (53 points) and the Gaels' women's contingent, who won the meet for the fourth straight season.

Both squads registered their second-lowest point totals in program history as well, with the men posting three points lower last season and the women scoring 69 in their first-ever top-3 finish back in 2003. Both teams featured two All-MAAC runners by way of top-15 individual finishes each for the second straight season.

Leading the men's side for the third season in a row and taking home an All-MAAC finish for the fourth straight year, senior Evans Kibet placed sixth in the men's 8k with a time of 25:14.55. The Nandi Hills, Kenya native was the first non-Iona finisher across the line in the meet and the only one to break inside the top-10. Kibet was joined by freshman Aidan Gillooley in securing an All-MAAC finish, with the Glennville, New York product placing 12^th with a time of 26:05.56 and also earning MAAC All-Rookie Team honors.

Junior Aidan Canavan (26:26.08), sophomore Owen Walker (26:38.87) and senior Michael Stoker (26:53.84) rounded out the top-5 individual finishers for the men, placing 19^th, 25^th & 37^th, respectively.

"Our men know how to compete," Head Coach John Kenworthy said. "Evans Kibet is endlessly consistent and gave us another steady starting point in the scoring. Aidan Gillooley has been building momentum and showed today exactly what level of a runner he's going to be for the Saints for a long time."

Fresh off her first career MAAC weekly honor, sophomore Olivia Lomascolo took the top spot on the women's side, recording an eighth-place finish with a time of 22:17.99 and taking home All-MAAC honors for the first time in her collegiate career. Junior Monica Strain also did so with a 13^th place finish, running a 22:30.10 in the women's 5k.

Seniors Sydney Johnson (22:42.56) & Carolyn Pellegrini (22:44.99) and Sophia Vinciguerra (22:46.24) took spots 19-21 consecutively in the individual finishes, with Vinciguerra recording the second-high female freshman finish of the day to earn MAAC All-Rookie Team honors.

"Our women ran a pretty perfect race today," Kenworthy added. "A 28 second scoring spread and eight girls within a 51 second spread is a testament to our depth and exactly the statement that we wanted to make. Olivia Lomascolo gets better every week and went out and eanred every step of her finish. Monica Strain is a championship competitor like no other and one again brought her best to the championship stage. Sophia Vinciguerra capped off a fantastic fall with well-deserved All-Rookie Team honors.

Despite putting the 2019 cross country regular season and conference championship behind them, there is still much competition left to be had for both the Siena men & women. The teams will now head to Buffalo, NY on Friday, Nov. 15 to compete at the NCAA Northeast Regional Championship. Both the NCAA DI National Championships and the IC4A/ECAC Cross Country Championships will be held on Saturday, Nov. 23.