Christina Altland didn't let the conditions hold her back. Running in a steady rain on a muddy track in 40- degree temperatures, the Monmouth University junior came up with her best race of the season in leading the MU women to a seventh place at the Princeton Invitational on Oct. 17.

Running against a field that included many nationally ranked teams, Altland, a Raritan High School grad, finished 15th overall. She ran the 6,100-meter course in 24:00. The former Rocket star was strong throughout the race. She paced herself in the top 20 for most of the race and moved up to 15th in the final stages of the race.

The Hawk women finished seventh with 170 points.

The men's team was 11th (300). The Hawks were led by Peter Forgach, who was 39th overall.

Forgach, a senior from Red Bank Catholic, turned in a 25:58 on Princeton University's 8,000-meter course.

The Princeton Invitational was the final warm-up for Monmouth before the Northeast Conference Championships on Oct. 31 in Hamden, Conn.

Forgach running well

Forgach is having a big season for the Hawks. He stamped himself as one of the individual favorites back in September when he won the Quinnipiac Invitational in a course record 25:52.4. He was running on the same course in Hamden where the NEC Championships will be held. He was named the Road Runner Sports/Northeast Conference Men's Athlete of the Week for that performance.

At the big Paul Short Run in Bethlehem, Pa., on Oct. 2, Forgach finished eighth, running the 5-mile course there in 25:23. Many of the top teams in the East were at the Paul Short Run.

Forgach was first at the Monmouth University Invitational that was held Oct. 19 at Holmdel Park. He ran the tough college 5-mile course in 27:05.8.

With Forgach taking first and teammates Billy Dowd (Staten Island, N.Y.), Andrew Seaver (Clark) and Garth Di- Blasio (Allentown) finishing fourth, fifth and ninth, the Hawk men finished first with 25 points.

Monmouth's women were second with 56 points, trailing only Canisius College (27).

Cailin Lynam (Sparta) led the Hawk women with a third place. She posted a 19:15.8 on the Holmdel Park 5K layout. Altland was 11th (20:00.7).

Following the NEC, the Hawk cross country team will compete in the NCAA Division I Mid-Atlantic Regional at the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore, on Nov. 14 and the IC4A and ECAC championships at Van Corlandt Park in the Bronx, N.Y., on Nov. 21.