The Moravian University cross country squads had a total of six runners earn 2022 Landmark All-Conference honors at the recent 2022 Landmark Conference Championships hosted by Goucher College in Towson, Maryland.

Senior Shane Houghton (Wilson HS) won the men’s individual title and was selected as the Men’s Runner of the Year while being joined on the All-Conference First Team by sophomores Owen Nahf (Northampton HS) and Josh Mangini (New Hartford, Conn.) as the trio finished 1-2-3. Sophomore Nathan Hajel (Succasunna, N.J.) earned a spot on the All-Conference Second Team while Director of Cross Country and Track & Field Jesse Baumann and his assistants Jon D’Ottavio and Sarah Hughes were honored as the Landmark Conference Men’s Coaching Staff of the Year after leading the Greyhounds to their second straight Landmark Conference title.

Freshman Tara Smurla (Cedar Grove, N.J.) was honored as the Landmark Conference Women’s Rookie of the Year as the top first-year runner in the race, and she garnered All-Conference First. Team accolades while sophomore Amber Poniktera (Bath, Pa./Northampton HS) earned a spot on the All-Conference Second Team.

Houghton finished first of the 81 runners with a winning 8,000-meter time of 26:10.3, just edging Nahf, who was the runner-up in a time of 26:10.6. Mangini was just two seconds back in third place. Hajel raced to a ninth place in a time of 26:24.9. Hajel was a member of the 2021 Landmark All-Conference First Team while Nahf made the All-Conference Second Team a year ago.

Smurla led the women’s team to a fifth-place team finish as she finished sixth out of 78 runners in a 6,000-meter time of 23:28.0. Poniktera garnered All-Conference Second Team honors for the second straight as she took 12th in a time of 23:54.9.