2000 American University Men's and Women's Cross Country Year in Review

The Eagles opened the season at the Navy Fall Classic where both the men and women finished fourth. AU then competed in the Maryland Invitational and both squads took second place. At the George Washington Invitational, the men finished eighth out of 19 teams while the women finished eighth out of 15. And, in their last team event of the season, both teams took first at the GMU Invitational. In the CAA meet, American was not allowed to compete as a team but Eagles student-athletes did compete as individuals.

Men's Year in Review: The top performer for Coach Centrowitz this season on the men's side was freshman Frank Malpigli (Bay Shore, NY/Bay Shore). Malpigli paced the Eagles in all but one of their outings and finished first overall at Mason with a time of 25:55.76. He also posted a fifth-place finish at Maryland and turned in the best time by an AU runner at the CAA meet with a time of 25:37.73. 1999 CAA Cross Country Rookie of the Year Sean O'Brien (So., Tilton, NH/Winnisquam) had another outstanding campaign with two top-ten finishes (Maryland and GMU) and led the Eagles at GW. C.J. Hoetzel (Jr., Hawley, PA/Wallenpaupack Area). also had a strong season with two top-ten times (Maryland and GMU).

Newcomer Matthew Cooke (So., Washington, DC/Maret) had good first season with the Eagles as he competed in every meet and took fourth at Mason with his season-best time of 26:21.32. Veterans Gautam Nayer (Sr., Port St Lucie, FL/St. Edwards School) and Jose Morales (So., Silver Spring, MD/Good Counsel) turned in strong finishes as did freshman Matt Seymour (Rockville, MD/Magruder). Nayer competed in three races and registered his best time at GW (26:52.34, 8th place). Morales also ran in three meets and posted his best time at GMU with a 26:57.08 mark. In his first collegiate season, Seymour ran in all but one of the team's events and had his best time at CAAs (26:37.28, 32nd).

The men's team also got strong efforts from Jovens Colas (So., Springfield, VA/Robert E. Lee), who appeared in three meets, Mike Edwards (So., Bronx, NY/DeWitt Clinton) (two meets), John Hrivnak (So., Valparaiso, IN/Valparaiso) (two meets) as well as Chad Young (So., Cheltenham, PA/Cheltenham), Austin Mejia (So., Hollywood, FL/South Broward) and Carlos Hunt (Fr., Waldorf, MD/Westlake) who each competed in one race for the Eagles.

Women's Year in Review: The women's team, like the men's, was led by a newcomer this season. Freshman Jennifer Baclawski (Ijamsville, MD/Urbana) was the team's top finisher in each of its first four races and finished in the top ten in every meet. Baclawski took the individual title at George Mason, was fourth at Maryland and posted AU's best time of the season (18:48.82) at George Washington. Samia Akbar (So., Herndon, VA/Oakton), who had an outstanding freshman year in cross country as well as track, had three top-ten finishes and was the Eagles' top finisher at the CAA meet with a time of 22:30.83. Her best time of the season (18:52.40) came at Mason where she took second place.

Three other freshmen also had strong seasons in Jessica Daniel (Wyncote, PA/Cheltenham), Sarah Cooke (Orinda, CA/Miramonte) and Leah Heinecke-Krumhus (Batavia, IL/Batavia). Daniel ran in all five races for AU and posted top-ten finishes at Maryland (seventh) and GMU (fourth) where she had her best time of the season (19:22.53). Cooke finished sixth at Mason with a 19:40.04 mark, her best of the year. Heinecke-Krumbu, finally, competed in four races for AU and turned in her best time (20:18.64, 13th place) at GMU.

Seniors Alli Hufnagel (Saline, MI/Saline) and Elizabeth Reaves (Fairfax, VT/Bellows Free Academy) ran in each meet and both improved upon their finishing times throughout the season. Erin Hickey (So., York, PA/York Catholic) ran in three races while Natalia Medley (Sr., Saline, MI/Saline), Rose Moeser (Fr., Sterling, VA/Broad Run) and Lisa Bourque (Fr., Torrington, CT/Torrington) each appeared in two. Jessica Brown (Fr., Kailua, HI/Punahou) and Meg Novinskie (So., Haddonfield, NJ/Haddonfield Memorial) competed in one race on the season.