Negreann Crosses Finish Line in First Place

Gophers Place Second Behind Juniata at Catholic Invitational

October 3, 2009

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Running on the same course that will be used for the Landmark Conference Championships later this month, Goucher's Joey Negreann (Englewood, Colo./Cherry Creek) was the first runner to cross the finish line today at the Catholic Invitational.

Negreann's winning time in the 8,000-meter race conducted on the campus of the U.S. Armed Forces Retirement Home was 28:09.44. He finished more than :43.5 ahead of the runner-up, Andrew Smith from Catholic, and became the first male runner representing Goucher to capture first place in a multi-team invitational since Justin Myers did so in the Mid-Atlantic Classic on October 8, 2005.

"Considering that there were a number of good runners from some solid programs such as Catholic, I'd say it was a well-earned victory (by Negreann)," according to John Caslin, head coach of Goucher's cross country programs. "This puts him in position with some improvement over the new few weeks to be one of the top contenders at the Landmark meet, certainly somebody who could be a first-team all-conference runner."

Goucher had a second runner among the top 10 finishers in senior Zach Martin (Victor, N.Y./Victor Central) and two additional runners in the top 20: junior Adam Scipione (Walpole, Mass./Walpole) and freshman Nick Manta (North Wales, Pa./Abington Friends School). Martin posted a time of 29:17.45, good for fourth place, while Scipione (30:42.16) and Manta (31:01.68) placed 11th and 15th overall, respectively.

The Gophers finished in second place in the team scoring with 50 points, six points behind Juniata. Even though their top runners placed sixth, the Eagles earned a team score of 44 points because their fifth runner came home in 14th place. Catholic was third with 60 points.