Oct. 3, 1999
On Saturday, Oct. 2, the Villanova men's cross country team finished second in the LaSalle Invitational held at the Belmont Plateau. The Wildcats finished four points ahead of LaSalle with 43 points and just one point behind the University of Pennsylvania who won the meet with 42 points.
Villanova received strong performances from its top four runners with all four placing in the top 10. Senior Scott Tantino (North Wales, Pa.) paced the Wildcats earning a fourth place finish with a time of 25:03.12. Newcomer Tom Parlapiano (Honeybrook, Pa.) continues to impress, as he recorded a sixth place finish in 25:24.04. Rounding out the top 10 for Villanova was the sophomore duo of Ben Showers (West Chester, Pa.) and Eric Reese (Dushore, Pa.), as the pair finished ninth and 10th respectively. Showers was timed in 25:41.07 just four seconds ahead of Reese who was clocked in 25:45.46.
The Wildcats last scorer was Cory Smith (Baltimore, Md.) who was credited with a 14th place finish in 26:01.83. Two Villanova rookies occupied the fifth and sixth runners for the Wildcats with freshman Paul Carroll (Cork, Ireland) placing 29th in 26:49.73 and freshman Chris Johnson (Easton, Mass.) placing 37th in 27:03.40. Just behind Johnson were sophomore Dan Tantino (North Wales, Pa.) and freshman Tim Styler (Cranford, N.J.). Tantino tallied a 39th place effort in 27:06.04, while Styler was 40th with a time of 27:07.85. Villanova will next race on Friday, Oct. 15 when they compete in the IC4A meet at Van Cortland Park in the Bronx, New York.
TEAM SCORES
1. Pennsylvania 42
2. VILLANOVA 43
3. LaSalle 47
4. Keene State 96
5. Haverford 149
6. George Washington 182
7. Widener 212
8. West Chester 225
9. St. Bonaventure 262
INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES
4. Scott Tantino 25:03.12
6. Tom Parlapiano 25:24.04
9. Ben Showers 25:31.02
10. Eric Reese 25:45.46
14. Cory Smith 26:01.83
29. Paul Carroll 26:49.73
37. Chris Johnson 27:03.40
39. Dan Tantino 27:06.04
40. Tim Styler 27:07.85
57. Colin McManus 28:08.44
65. Hao Pan 28:36.23
71. Brian Anderson 28:56.82
75. Mike Maggio 28:59.46
79. John Rogener 29:18.36
80. Jim Copperthwaite 29:25.83
