Cross Country Moravian Athletic Communications

Moravian Men Win Fifth Straight Landmark Cross Country Title

CLARK, N.J. -The Moravian University men's cross country team won its fifth straight Landmark Conference Championship, capturing the 2025 title Saturday morning at Oak Ridge Park hosted by Drew University.

How It Happened
  • The Greyhounds scored 30 points to finish 49 points ahead of runner-up Catholic University of America. Elizabethtown College finished third with 90 points
  • Moravian has now won seven total Landmark Conference Championships since the conference began in 2007, with titles in 2011, 2012, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025. The Hounds have 13 overall conference titles
  • Graduate student Cole Frank led the Blue & Grey with a runner-up finish in the field of 100 runners with a season-best time of 24:32.92 on the 8,000-meter course
  • Senior Bryan Kerchner placed third with a personal best time of 24:46.28, while junior Gavin Hefferan took fourth in a PR time of 24:46.60
  • Junior Nate Moore finished ninth with a PR time of 25:23.34, while senior Joe Allegro rounded out the Moravian scorers with a PR time of 25:43.20 to place 12th
  • Freshman Braeden Knotts took 14th in the race with a PR time of 25:48.03, while sophomore Riley Trigo was 16th at a PR time of 26:01.28, and sophomore Grayson Kerzmann finished 17th with a PR time of 26:03.00
  • Sophomore Jake Mattes placed 29th with a PR time of 26:32.36, while junior Logan Betyeman took 35th in a time of 26:54.90
  • Freshman Aiden Nieman ran a PR time of 27:01.49 to finish 36th, while sophomore Charles Champagne was 45th in 27:14.54, and junior Adam Plummer took 46th with a PR time of 27:15.01
  • Junior Michael Schippnick placed 52nd in a PR time of 27:39.20, while freshman Jonathan Pajrowski was 57th in 28:01.67
  • Freshman Nick DeGeronimo recorded a PR time of 28:02.32 while freshman Jared Petre took 64th in 28:31.17. Freshman Colin Wagner took 71st in 28:51.35, while senior Jackson Gaffney was 76th with a time of 28:59.75
  • Rounding out the Greyhounds' runners were senior Jackson Royds in 84th in a time of 29:39.74, junior Jordan Gagner at 88th in 30:24.56, junior Dylan Benbow in 91st at 30:52.32, and junior Xander DiMatteo at 95th in 31:16.11

Quotable from Director of Cross Country and Track & Field Jesse Baumann
  • "We felt going into the race today that if we stayed controlled and minimized risks, we could give ourselves the best chance at winning, and that turned out to be true.  Our front four stayed within themselves and competed extremely well with some great finishing kicks over the last mile. What really sealed our win was our depth, though. Joe Allegro, in particular, stands out with what was hands down the best race of his career in either XC or track, and closing out our top 5 scoring runners. Braeden Knotts, Grayson Kerzmann, and Riley Trigo joined Joe by being conservative early on, but as they felt great mid-race, they moved extremely well to ensure we had the depth to win. We had nearly half of our men run the fastest 8k of their lives, so the whole team had an incredible day!"

Up Next for the Greyhounds
  • Saturday, November 15, at the 2025 NCAA Division III Metro Regional Championship hosted by Rowan University
  • Saturday, November 22 at 2025 NCAA Division III National Championships, Roger Milliken Center, Spartanburg, S.C. (if qualify)