Sacred Heart
38th Annual Fairfield University Victor F. Leeber Cross Country Invitational
Pioneers Finish 1st, 2nd, and 3rd to Win Fairfield Invitational
9/26/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
FARIFIELD, Conn. – Sean Ferguson, Trevor Guerrera, and Timothy Loehner were the first three runners to cross the finish line, helping lead the Sacred Heart men's cross country team to its fourth ever Fairfield University Victor F. Leeber Invitational team title on Saturday morning.
The Pioneers tied host Fairfield with 30 points but earned the title thanks an NCAA tiebreaker that states: "Ties in team scoring shall be broken by comparing in order the place finish of each of the five scoring members of the tied teams. The team with the majority of winning comparisons shall be awarded the higher place." Therefore, because Ferguson, Guerrrera, and Loehner each beat out their respective scoring competitor, SHU was crowned the winner.
Ferguson, Guerrera and Loehner ran together in the early going, sitting just off the lead, biding their time in the top ten. By the midway point of the race, Ferguson took the lead and ran to an easy individual victory from there. Guerrera and Loehner stayed together, and moved into second and third by the last mile of the race. At the three- mile mark of the race, Fairfield was clearly winning the team battle, but both Bryan Reilly and Michael Giambrone improved their individual placement by several spots over the last two miles to clinch the victory for the team.
"It doesn't get any closer," said Head Coach Christian Morrison. "We ran a little shorthanded today, so I wasn't sure if we'd be able to pull off the team win. Sean, Trevor and Tim are quite consistent and reliable, and they finished as I expected. Bryan and Mike really came up big for us to seal the victory."
Ferguson becomes the sixth Pioneer in program history to capture the Fairfield Invitational title. It was his third individual victory in three races to begin the season. Competing on an 8k course for the first time in 2015, the senior captain completed the course in 26:27.99.
Guerrera and Loehner pulled away form fourth place to battle for second, with Guerrera ultimately edging out his teammate by less than one second. The two crossed in 26:37.1 and 26:38.04, respectively.
Helping SHU to the title was Reilly and Gaimbrone, who placed 10th and 15th, respectively, to help hold off the Stags. Reilly finished with a time of 28:09.79, while Giambrone clocked in at 28:42.37.
Players Mentioned
