Lancaster, Pa. – (11/1/2021) – Respectively placing sixth (29:54.2) and 12
th (31:13.9) at the 2021 Atlantic East Conference (AEC) Men's Cross Country Championship, juniors
Thomas Balla (Trevose Pa.) (1
st Team) and
Sean Morris (Limerick, Pa.) (2
nd Team) earned all-league honors. The duo powered Gwynedd Mercy University to a second-place finish (2
nd of 7, 65 points) as the Griffins only finished behind host, Marywood University (1
st of 6, 16 points) in the eight-kilometer (8K) race. The complete
2021 All-AEC Men's Cross Country Team is provided below and through use of the provided link:
MAJOR AWARDS
Champion: Marywood University
Runner-Up: Gwynedd Mercy University
Runner of the Year: Thomas Lee, Marywood
Rookie of the Year: Thomas Lee, Marywood
Coaching Staff of the Year: Marywood University
FIRST-TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE
| Place/Name |
Time |
| 1. Thomas Lee, Marywood |
28:56 |
| 2. Jack Baronski, Marywood |
28:57 |
| 3. Drew Konieczny, Neumann |
29:06 |
| 4. Caleb Bakalyar, Marywood |
29:12 |
| 5. Nathan Skrutski, Marywood |
29:22 |
| 6. Thomas Balla, Gwynedd Mercy |
29:52 |
| 7. Gavin Beck, Marywood |
29:59 |
SECOND-TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE
| Place/Name |
Time |
| 8. Ivan Zavala-Zavala, Immaculata |
30:06 |
| 9. John Russo, Marywood |
30:21 |
| 10. Josh Godlewski, Marywood |
30:44 |
| 11. Ian Kovatch. Marywood |
31:08 |
| 12. Sean Morris, Gwynedd Mercy |
31:13 |
| 13. Christian Scotti, Marywood |
31:38 |
| 14. Michael Kelly, Marywood |
31:44 |
FINAL TEAM RESULTS
1. Marywood, 16 points
2. Gwynedd Mercy, 65 points
3. Immaculata, 70 points
4. Cabrini, 88 points
5. Marymount, 135 points
6. Centenary, 159 points
Balla and Morris were both pace setters for the Gwynedd Mercy University during the 2021 season; the former was the first Griffin across the finish line in the Griffin 5K Invitational (3
rd, 18:06.1 on Sept. 4) and Stockton University's Osprey Open (45
th, 28:42.27 on Sept. 25), while the latter was first for Gwynedd Mercy University at the Philadelphia Metro Meet (19
th, 31:05.1 on Sept. 11) and Rowan University's Inter-Regional Border Battle (235
th, 30:16.8 on Oct. 16). Balla also finished 31
st (32:20.5) at the Philadelphia Metro Meet, 128
th (29:16.8) at Lehigh University's Paul Short Invitational White 8K, and 243
rd (31:04.6) at the Inter-Regional Border Battle. Meanwhile, Morris additionally ran sixth (18:28.3) at the Griffin 5K Invitational, 47
th (28:46.7) at the Osprey Open, and 131
st (29:19.8) at the Paul Short Invitational.
This is Balla's second All-AEC accolade as he garnered All-AEC Second Team honors with a 12
th place (30:43.1) run at the 2019 AEC Men's Cross Country Championship. Morris placed 19
th (33:05.2) in the event.
Gwynedd Mercy University runs next at its own End of the Season 5K, which is scheduled for a 10:30 a.m. starting gun on Saturday, November 6.
