Hurley and Black All-NEC
Women Place 7th and Men Take Home 10th at NEC Championship In New Jersey
WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. – Sophomore standout Eimear Black's(Glengormley, Ireland) second-place finish and David Hurley's (Ashaway, R.I.) 14th-place finish paced the Bryant University men's and women's cross country teams to seventh and tenth place finishes at the Northeast Conference Championships.
Coming off a 64th-place finish at the championships a year ago, Black earned one of the best finishes in program history and the highest placing since Bryant joined the NEC three years ago by crossing the line with a time of 18:47. She finished just five seconds behind the overall winner, Alasia Griebel from Central Connecticut State.
Classmate Lauren Ganim (Trumbull, Conn.) was the second Bulldog to cross the finish line, finishing 31st out of 102 runners in setting another personal best with a time of 20:07. Megan Robertson (Sewell, N.J.) finished 51st, Kara Walsh (Waltham, Mass.) claimed 62nd, Brooke Tomasetti (Waterford, Conn.) was 68th, Emileigh Gilfoy (Sutton, Mass) finished 74th, Katherine Dustin (Foxboro, Mass.) was 90th and Kim Warner (Shrewsbury, Mass.) rounded out the Bulldogs, finishing 100th. As a team, the women finished seventh out of 12 teams.
CCSU's Griebel capped off her NEC career in fine fashion recording a time of 18:42 and earning first place and Outstanding Performer. Quinnipiac took home the team title for the seventh consecutive year with a total of 44 points with four runners earning All-Conference honors.
Black was able to edge Monmouth senior Jen Nelson who took third, crossing the line in 18:52. Sacred Heart's Brittney Lane ran to a fourth place finish in 19 minutes flat while Quinnipiac's Morgan Roche rounded out the top five with a time of 19:02.
Robert Morris freshman Marissa Polk picked up NEC Freshman of the Year honors, as she was the first rookie to cross the line, coming in 17th with a time of 19:44.
While the Bobcats topped the team leader board, Sacred Heart took home the runners-up trophy with 75 points. Monmouth finished third with 91 points while Central Connecticut (99) and Saint Francis (PA) (107) rounded out the top-five.
Graduate student Stephen Wood (North Providence, R.I.) had his best race of the season, finishing second on the Bulldogs and 38th overall. Jeffrey Dorosh (Naugatuck, Conn.) (48), Kenny Rayner (Acton, Mass.) (50), Francis Foley (Acton, Mass.) (51), Ryan Busby (Derry, N.H.) (56), Blake Fenwick (Thomaston, Conn.) (62), Christopher Chapruet(Danvers, Mass.) (80) and Michael DiTocco (Pembroke, Mass.) (99) rounded out Bryant's lineup. The Bulldogs finished 10th out of 12 teams.
Central Connecticut won the men's championship and Quinnipiac won its seventh-straight women's championship.
Individually Hunt outpaced the field of 101 competitors to notch the NEC Outstanding Performer award with a time of 25:59. Coming in just behind him was teammate Hunt (26:06) followed by Sacred Heart senior Jeffrey Lusignan (26:36). Mount St. Mary's Dylan Bernard placed fourth with a time of 26:40 and Long Island senior Rogers Kipruto rounded out the top-five with a 26:42.
With the Blue Devils in the top spot Saint Francis fell into runner-up with 67 points. Mount Saint Mary's surged to a third place finish with 131 points, while Monmouth (133) and Robert Morris (163) completed the top-five. Quinnipiac totaled 171 points for sixth while Wagner complied 173 for seventh. Sacred Heart's 178 took eighth while St. Francis (NY) (185), Bryant (195), Long Island (305) and Fairleigh Dickinson (326) completed the 12-team field.
Also representing the Blue Devils on the All-Conference list was senior Jeremy Schmid in twelfth (27:11). Saint Francis posted two harriers on the All-NEC team including Chris Mills who placed sixth with a time of 26:46 andRyan Kennedy who notched a thirteenth place finish (27:16). Sacred Heart's Chris Connelly also grabbed a spot on the All-Conference team with his seventh place finish (26:50) as did Robert Morris' Tip Worob who place seventh. Worob was the first freshman to cross the line at this year's championship meet and earned NEC Freshman of the Year accolades for his efforts.
2011 Men's Cross Country All-Conference Team
1 #21 Alexander, Sam SR Central Connecticut 25:59.10 1
2 #26 Hunt, Craig JR Central Connecticut 26:06.90 2
3 #118 Lusignan, Jeffrey SR Sacred Heart 26:36.50 3
4 #70 Bernard, Dylan SR Mount St. Mary's 26:40.10 4
5 #39 Kipruto, Rogers JR Long Island 26:42.40 5
6 #149 Mills, Chris SR St. Francis (Pa.) 26:46.40 6
7 #114 Connelly, Christoph JR Sacred Heart 26:50.30 7
8 #107 Worob, Thomas FR Robert Morris 27:05.30 8
9 #49 Bowen, Khari FR Monmouth 27:08.20 9
10 #132 Gilhuley, Paul JR St. Francis (N.Y.) 27:09.00 10
11 #157 Spector, Zachary SR Wagner 27:10.70 11
12 #30 Schmid, Jeremy SR Central Connecticut 27:11.30 12
13 #146 Kennedy, Ryan FR St. Francis (Pa.) 27:16.30 13
14 #16 Hurley, David JR Bryant 27:17.30 14
NEC Outstanding Performer: Sam Alexander, Central Connecticut
NEC Freshman of the Year: Tip Worob, Robert Morris
2011 Women's Cross Country All-Conference Team
1 #173 Griebel, Alasia SR Central Connecticut 18:42.10 1
2 #159 Black, Eimear SO Bryant 18:47.40 2
3 #209 Nelson, Jennifer SR Monmouth 18:52.90 3
4 #279 Lane, Brittney SO Sacred Heart 19:00.30 4
5 #244 Roche, Morgan SR Quinnipiac 19:02.70 5
6 #248 Szarkowizc, Andrea JR Quinnipiac 19:10.80 6
7 #233 Faust, Brianna SO Quinnipiac 19:16.50 7
8 #305 Grossi, Sarah SR St. Francis (Pa.) 19:18.50 8
9 #306 Haffner, Jennifer JR St. Francis (Pa.) 19:22.10 9
10 #205 Maher, Kelsey JR Monmouth 19:23.20 10
11 #232 Faust, Amanda SO Quinnipiac 19:23.90 11
12 #287 Selmquist, Alyssa JR Sacred Heart 19:24.70 12
13 #171 Dearborn, Krisztina SO Central Connecticut 19:31.40 13
14 #275 Heninger, Brittany SR Sacred Heart 19:31.40 14
Outstanding Performer: Alasia Griebel, Central Connecticut
NEC Freshman of the Year: Marissa Polk, Robert Morris