St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Metropolitan Championships
Cocozza Leads Red Storm At Metropolitan Championships
10/9/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
Oct. 9, 2009
Video Interview with Nicole Cocozza
BRONX, N.Y. - The Red Storm cross country team continued to make positive steps in preparation for the BIG EAST Championship as they finished sixth with an average time of 20:03 in Friday's 5K Metropolitan Championships at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx.
Sophomore Nicole Cocozza became the fourth runner in as many races to finish first for St. John's. Cocozza, who did not run in last week's Paul Short Invite, placed 44th overall with a time of 19:54. The finish marked her fastest time this season.
"We were pleased with our effort and benefitted from having a few runners back from injury," said head coach Jim Hurt. "It speaks volumes to the depth of this team that we had yet a new runner finish first in this race."
Sophomore Aryon Trujillo, who led the Red Storm most of the race, finished second on the team and 51st overall with a time of 19:59. Trujillo had also missed several meets due to injury.
Senior Sarah Fry continued to score valuable points for the Red Storm as she finished third on the team, just seconds behind Trujillo with a career-best time of 20:01. The finish bested her previous top 5K time by more than 40 seconds.
Freshman Stephanie Barnes and junior Sarah Sudbury rounded out the scoring for St. John's, finishing fourth and fifth on the team and 54th and 60th overall.
Next Sunday, Oct. 18, St. John's will host its annual Fall Festival. There will be men's and women's 4K races to help raise money for breast cancer research. The morning races will be held at Cunningham Park in Queens, N.Y. followed by a reception on campus honoring the 1979 St. John's cross country team.
Players Mentioned
