NEW PALTZ, NY – Luca Maneri of the SUNY New Paltz men's cross country team has been named the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Athlete of the Week for the third consecutive week, as announced by the conference office Monday. 

The Esopus, NY native has continued his red-hot start to his SUNY New Paltz career, earning the conference's weekly honor following each of his first three meets as a Hawk. 

After an impressive debut at the season-opening Fred Pavlich Invitational hosted by Bard College earned Maneri his first NJAC Athlete of the Week honor, he followed with another standout performance at Vassar College's Ron Stonitsch Invitational. Maneri placed sixth overall in the loaded 6K field with a time of 19:28.0, recording the fastest 6K time in the NJAC that week while helping SUNY New Paltz finish fifth among seven teams in a field that included nationally ranked No. 3 NYU. 

Maneri raised the bar again Saturday at the RPI Fairgrounds Showdown, clocking a personal-best 24:52.8 in the 8K to set a new SUNY New Paltz program record. His performance surpassed the previous mark of 25:03.0 set by Galo Vasquez at the 2016 NCAA Regional Championships, breaking a record that had stood for nearly a decade. 

Maneri placed 26th overall against a field packed with nationally ranked competition, including No. 3 NYU, No. 4 Geneseo and No. 8 RPI, continuing to establish himself among some of the top runners in Division III. 

The SUNY New Paltz standout has now collected three NJAC Athlete of the Week honors in as many weeks to begin his Hawks career. 

Maneri and the Hawks return to the course Oct. 2 when they travel to Division I Lehigh University for the Paul Short Run at 4 p.m. 

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