FREDONIA, NY - The Utica University men's and women's cross country teams competed in the NCAA DII Niagara Regional, hosted by SUNY Fredonia on Saturday morning. The women's team finished ninth out of 21 teams, and the men finished 12th out of 22 teams. 

Leading the way to a program record ninth place finish for the women's team was Catherine Manna (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro), who ran a 23:29.0 en route to a 31st place finish. Marlo Townsend (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) was the team's second finisher, finishing just behind Manna running a 23:29.9. Rounding out the scorecard for the Pioneers was Jade Denning (23:37.1), Maria Stuhlman (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) (23:38.6) and Meghan Sonnacchio (Liverpool, NY/Central Square) (26:44.0). 

Bennett Melita led the way for the Pioneers, running a 25:13.8 en route to a ninth place overall finish, and a team finish of 12th overall. Melita, a newly minted All-Region honoree is now awaiting a potential at-large selection to go to the NCAA DIII Men's Cross Country Championship. Rounding out the scorecard for the Pioneers was Zachary Brown (27:13.6), Anthony Leotta (27:39.0), Joseph Santiago (27:40.9) and Tobias Jeralds (27:50.3). 

If selected to the NCAA DIII Men's Cross Country Championship, Melita will compete on Saturday, November 23 at 11am in Terre Haute, IN. The selections will be revealed on Sunday, November 17 on NCAA.com.