Twelve Greyhounds Earn Cross Country Landmark All-Conference Honors; Nahf & Baumann Garner Major Awards

TOWSON, Md. --- The Moravian University cross country squads had a total of 12 runners earn 2024 Landmark All-Conference honors this past Saturday at the 2024 Landmark Conference Championships hosted by Elizabethtown College at Union Canal Tunnel Park in Lebanon.

Senior Owen Nahf won the men's individual title and was selected as the Men's Performer of the Year while being joined on the All-Conference First Team by senior Nathan Hajel, graduate student Cole Stanchina, junior Bryan Kerchner, sophomore Gavin Hefferan and graduate student Josh Mangini for finishing in the top seven. Nahf, Hajel, Stanchina, Kerchner and Hefferan finished 1-2-3-4-5 in the meet to give the Greyhounds a perfect score of 15 points, the first time in conference history the meet champion had the minimum points possible. Graduate student Casey Frank earned a spot on the All-Conference Second Team while sophomore Nate Moore garnered Honorable Mention honors.

Director of Cross Country and Track & Field Jesse Baumann and his assistants Jon D'Ottavio and Molly Sear were honored as the Landmark Conference Men's Coaching Staff of the Year after leading the Greyhounds to their fourth straight Landmark Conference title and sixth overall Landmark Conference Championship. It is also Baumann's sixth Landmark Conference Coaching Staff of the Year honor since he took over the Moravian program in 2011.

"Congratulations to Jesse and his staff for another Landmark Conference Coaching Staff of the Year recognition," stated Director of Athletics and Recreation Mary Beth Spirk. "Jesse and his assistants work tirelessly in recruiting and then cultivate their runners to be the best on and off the course. He has had success in his time at Moravian because of his work ethic which he instills to his staff and his student athletes. We are proud to have Jesse on our team and look forward to future successes moving forward."

Junior Tara Smurla was honored on the Landmark All-Conference First Team for the women while senior Amber Poniktera and junior Tori Champagnemade the All-Conference Second Team. Sophomore Alexis Hockenberry earned a spot on the All-Conference Honorable Mention squad.

Nahf finished first of the 117 runners with a winning 8,000-meter time of 25:18.82, just ahead of Hajel, who was the runner-up in a time of 25:18.97. Stanchina placed third at 25:91.23 while Kerchner finished in fourth place with a time of 25:19.98 and Hefferan was took fifth in 25:25.22 to complete the sweep for the title. Mangini placed seventh in 25:33.41 while Frank was one spot back in eighth in a time of 25:39.05. Moore finished 17th in a time of 25:55.50.

Nahf made the Landmark All-Conference First Team for the third straight fall after being the individual runner-up the last two seasons, and he was on the All-Conference Second Team in 2021. Hajel was the 2023 Landmark Conference Performer of the Year while making the All-Conference First Team the last two falls and the Second Team in 2021. Mangini earned his third All-Conference honor after making the First Team in 2022 and the Second Team in 2022 while Kerchner garnered his second All-Conference after being on the Second Team last fall. Frank and Moore both earned their first All-Conference honors. Nahf is the sixth Greyhound to win the Landmark Conference individual title and Performer of the Year honors.

 "The men tried to be a little more conservative early on in the race to give ourselves what we felt was the best chance to win the meet, but also minimizing how much energy we had to expend," stated Director of Cross Country and Track & Field. "The men let the field press the pace through about 3k, and shortly after that, our lead pack of Owen, Nate, Cole, and Bryan slowly started to elevate the pace to separate themselves from the field. Our top four opted to do just enough to keep a safe distance to ensure they could finish 1-4, and then Gavin, Josh, and Casey meticulously worked through the field to put themselves in All-Conference position. Additionally, Nate Moore positioned himself a little farther back in the field and was steady throughout the race to secure our 8th runner in the top 17 of the field and another All-Landmark accolade. Heading into the meet, we discussed an attentive but patient strategy that they executed perfectly and resulted in a historic performance for the Greyhounds."

Smurla led the women's team to a runner-up team finish by a point as she placed fourth out of 105 runners in a 6,000-meter time of 22:10.34. Poniktera finished in eighth place in a time of 23:02.41 while Champagne was a spot back in ninth at 23:08.00. Hockenberry took 19th in a time of 24:03.76. Smurla garnered her third straight Landmark All-Conference First Team honor after being the Rookie of the Year in 2022 while Poniktera made the All-Conference Second Team for the third time in her career as well, making the squad in 2022 and 2021. Champagne and Hockenberry were both honored for the first time.

"Tara made a bold move with roughly a mile to go which she needed to do to try to separate herself," noted Baumann. "In hindsight, that exertion of energy and leading the field may have cost her in the end, but it was the right thing to do to optimize the chances of her finishing in front of two All American 800m runners who she had to create some separation from if she wanted to beat them."

"Amber and Tori positioned themselves perfectly throughout the entire race before making a critical surge in the final 800m to help us leapfrog past Scranton and bring us to within the one-point margin of Catholic. They had some large margins to make up but showed some true grit and toughness to bump up in the race," continued Baumann. "Alyssa also set positioned herself within the top 5 runners from the three teams we were monitoring during the race and had an excellent close to the race that ultimately sealed a top 2 finish for us. Overall, it was a great day for the 'Hounds, we couldn't be prouder of what these four accomplished or how the team did as a whole."

Moravian is off this week before returning to action at the 2024 NCAA Division III Metro Regional being hosted by Stockton (N.J.) University on Saturday, November 16.