Men's & Women's Cross Country Runners Post PR's at NJCAA Championships

HOLYOKE, MASS. – The Anne Arundel Community College men's and women's cross country teams competed at the NJCAA Division III Championships at Stanley Park in Holyoke, Mass., Saturday, November 2nd.

All three Riverhawks runners on the women's team recorded personal best times among the 121-runner field. Leslei Garcia ran a personal best 24:14 to finish 59th overall. Nicole Newell finished in 62nd with a personal best 24:27. Rebecca White ran a personal best 26:27 to finish in 88th.

On the men's side, the Riverhawks finished 24th out of 28 complete teams and 43 total teams. Gordon Bickerstatt led the AACC racers with a season best 30:54 to place 101st among 200 total runners. Matthew Brown finished in 112th with a season best 31:17. Timothy Caldwell finished 168th with a 34:29, and Brendan Quinn placed 176th with a time of 35:22. Jude Poole cut more than 10 minutes off his PR with a time of 49:08.

"We saw tremendous improvements on both squads throughout the season," said head coach Keith Bigelow. "To go to a large stage like the Division III nationals, competing against a huge field of runners and have nearly the entire team PR in their races was a huge milestone for us. Punctuating the season on such a high note really made me proud of our Riverhawk runners, and it makes me very hopeful for the fall of 2020. We expect to build off the successes of this year with runners returning to both squads next year."

The national meet wraps up the season for AACC. The women finished the year as MDJUCO Division III Champions and NJCAA Region XX Runners Up. It was the first year for the men's program.