September 30, 2006

BRONX, NY - New Jersey Institute of Technology sophomore Umar Saeed set a new school record for the fabled Van Cortlandt Park, covering the challenging 8k course in 26:11 in the 12th annual Brother John "Paddy" Doyle Meet of Champions, host by Iona, the nation's fifth-ranked men's cross country team.

Saeed's record time was nearly a minute better than his time on the same course a year ago.

Saeed was 50th overall and 37th among college runners in Saturday's race. Two Highlanders veterans--Mike Genauer, Dave Kloc--also recorded their personal records for the course. Genauer's time was 30:01.2 and Kloc's was 30:07.5, nearly a minute faster than just a couple of weeks ago on the same course. Freshman Jamil Wilkins also took nearly a minute of his first run at Van Cortlandt Park, coming in Saturday at 31:23.9.

The second NJIT finisher behind Saeed was Duc Tran (28:46.4). Babatunde Busari was next at 29:33.7, while freshman Tchaz Amevor, running his first race of the season, followed for the Highlanders at 29:39.6.

The race was won by Samuel Chelanga of FDU in 24:01.6, while Iona had five of the next nine finishers in an exceptionally strong field that included 16 NCAA Division I teams from throughout the East (including NJIT), as well as Toledo from the Midwest and San Diego from the West coast. Adding to the strength of the field were unattached runners, as well as members of the Westchester Track Club, who actually took five of the top 13 spots, despite the presence of Iona's nationally-ranked college team.