Photo by: Bryant Athletic Communications
Photo by: Bryant Athletic Communications
Posted: Nov 02, 2019

Ayres earns All-NEC; Bulldogs finish sixth at NEC Championship

NEW BRITAIN, Conn. – The Bryant University men's and women's cross country teams both finished sixth overall at the NEC Championship at Central Connecticut on Saturday morning.

Sophomore Julia Ayres (Collegeville, Pa.) was the lone Bulldog on both the men's and women's squads to earn All-NEC honors for cracking the top-14 with a 13th-place finish.

COACH SWITZER COMMENTS

"Today was a great showing for the team," said head coach Mitch Switzer. "All season we've continued to improve each and every week, but today they really stepped up. We talked a lot about putting ourselves out there today and pushing each other as a team so that if someone falls back, someone else is there to step up. The strategy paid off and across the board we had people run some of their fastest times of the season. Julia earning All-Conference honors was incredibly exciting and really capped off the great year she's been having. Overall I'm very proud of how they came together and competed as a team today."

TEAM RESULTS (M)

  1. Wagner – 43
  2. CCSU – 50
  3. Mount St. Mary's – 74
  4. Saint Francis U – 75
  5. Merrimack – 94
  6. Bryant – 152
  7. Sacred Heart – 232
  8. Long Island – 250
  9. St. Francis Brooklyn – 272
  10. Fairleigh Dickinson – 279

TEAM RESULTS (W)

  1. Central Connecticut – 38
  2. Sacred Heart – 71
  3. Saint Francis U – 85
  4. Mount St. Mary's – 111
  5. Merrimack – 131
  6. Bryant – 175
  7. Wagner – 186
  8. Fairleigh Dickinson – 195
  9. Robert Morris – 221
  10. St. Francis Brooklyn – 293
  11. Long Island – 301

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (M)

23. Jordan Dagrin – 26:50.7
29. Jonathan Iamarone – 26:58.3
31. Jason Dolan – 27:08.0
32. Evan Coyne – 27:09.4
38. Benjamin Carlson – 27:28.3
53. Aidan Macsweeney – 28:16.1
55. Alexander Duncan – 28:22.0
56. Nicholas Brancato – 28:22.6
61. William Bittrich – 28:46.5
63. Bodie Avery – 28:52.3

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (W)

13. Julia Ayres – 18:34.6
29. Abby Hamilton – 19:30.4
41. Sarah Freeman – 19:44.5
51. Breann Campise – 19:59.1
58. Allison Corcoran – 20:20.8
59. Jess Cook – 20:24.3
62. Ellie Goyette – 20:28.5
63. Caroline Meizen – 20:35.5
70. Jackie Prestininzi – 21:02.8
78. Jill Doherty – 21:36.1

MEET NOTES

  • Ayres earned an All-NEC honor for cracking the top-14 with a personal-best time of 18:34.6. The sophomore crossed the finish line in the 13th spot out of 90 female participants.
  • Junior captain Jordan Dagrin (North Kingstown, R.I.) led the men with a time of 26:50.7 finishing 23rd out of 89 male runners. Dagrin improved his time of 28:32.3 from a year ago.
  • Every returning runner on the men's team improved their time from last season's NEC Championship. Most notably, Benjamin Carlson (Middletown, Conn.) finished just under two minutes faster than last season as he posted a time of 29:18.4 during his rookie season and a time of 27:28.3 this season.
  • On the women's side, all returning Bulldogs also finished with a faster time than last season. Sarah Freeman (Merrimac, Mass.) posted a time of 21:31.1 last season compared to her time of 19:44.5 this year.
  • Along with Ayres, Breann Campise (Tolland, Conn.), Jill Doherty (Bridgewater, Mass.), Abby Hamilton (Grafton, Mass.), Jackie Prestininzi (Shrewsbury, N.J.), and Freeman all set new PRs. Evan Coyne and Aidan Macsweeney (Assonet, Mass.) set net personal-bests on the men's side.