Men's Cross Country | 8/25/2019 9:33:00 AM

Cobleskill, N.Y.: With the 2019 cross country season fast approaching, the SUNY Cobleskill men's program will be looking to improve on a 2018 campaign that saw the Fighting Tigers post a fourth place finish at the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) Cross Country Championships and a 31^st place finish at the NCAA Division III Atlantic Regional Championships.

According to the Dean of NEAC coaches Cobleskill's Mitch Tomaszkiewicz, as he enters his 27^th year at the helm of the program, "I think the fact that we've improved our overall depth in terms of both talent and numbers will pay big dividends for us this season. Last year we finished fourth overall at the conference championships which is not up to the standards we hold ourselves to. This year we are going to be a much more serious contender come the post season."

Leading the way for the Orange & Black this will be sophomore Dillion Vandemortel, Newark, N.Y., Newark High School, who placed third at the 2018 NEAC Championships to earn First Team All-NEAC honors to go with five-individual invitational victories the most by a Fighting Tiger runner in a single season since the program's move to the NCAA level of competition in 2008. Also returning to the line-up this year will be sophomore letterman Nick Merando, Cortlandt Manor, N.Y., Walter Panas High School, and junior two-time letterman Mike Sawmiller, Lafayette, N.Y., Tully High School.

Among the talented newcomers will be sophomore Jared Craw, Colonie, N.Y., Colonie High School/Hudson Valley Community College, who earned 2018 NJCAA Division III All-American honors in Cross Country and at the 2019 NJCAA Division Outdoor Track & Field Championships in the steeplechase. Cobleskill will also be looking for production from freshman: Tucker Skowyra, Hardwick, Mass., Quabbin Regional High School, freshman Christopher Bruen, Jefferson Valley, N.Y., Lakeland High School, Jorge Garcia, Copake, N.Y., Taconic Hills High School, and Andrew Hahn, Schoharie, N.Y., Schoharie High School.

The Fighting Tigers will open the 2019 campaign when they travel to Marcy, N.Y. for the SUNY Poly Short Course Invitational on Saturday August 31^st with the women's race starting at 10:00 a.m. followed by the men's race at 11:00 a.m.