Men's Cross Country Wins Seventh Straight NEC Title

The Central Connecticut men's cross country team won its seventh straight Northeast Conference Championship on Saturday afternoon.  Central runners finished second, fifth, sixth, eighth and ninth in the championship held at Bryant University.  The win makes the CCSU men's cross country team just the third overall program in league history to post at least seven straight titles in any sport.

Central joins Quinnipiac women's cross country (eight straight from 2015-12) and Mount St. Mary's women's tennis (seven straight from 1989-95) as the only programs in NEC history to record seven straight titles.

Junior Ryan Hertzog was the top finisher for the Blue Devils finishing the 8k course in a time of 24:57.7.  He led a group of five Blue Devils who finished in the top nine to lead the Blue Devils to the title.  

Senior Matt Walker finished fifth (25:17.8) followed by freshman Austin Trainor who was sixth with a time of 25:28.6.  Freshman Alex Norstrom was eighth in a time of 25:38.5 and junior Joe Gioielli was ninth in a time of 25:41.0.

The Blue Devils team score of 30 was 49 points ahead of second place Sacred Heart (79).  Sacred Heart's Sean Ferguson won the individual title with a time of 24:51.2.

Bryant was third (91) followed by Saint Francis U (100), Mount St. Mary's (120), St. Francis Brooklyn (136), Fairleigh Dickinson (191) and Wagner (204). 

NEC HISTORY
The Blue Devils join the following programs to win at least seven straight NEC titles:
Quinnipiac Women's Cross Country - 8 - 2005-12
CCSU Men's Cross Country - 7 - 2009-15
Mount St. Mary's Women's Tennis - 7 - 1989-95