CCSU 5th In University Race At ECAC Championships

The Central Connecticut women's cross country team finished 5th out of 18 teams in the university division of the 30th running of the ECAC Women's Cross Country Championships on Saturday afternoon. The 5K championship race was held at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, NY and the Blue Devils finished with three runners in the top-15 and earned 142 total points to claim 5th place.

The 2014 NEC women's cross country individual champion, senior Elizabeth Eberhardt, led the way for the Blue Devils once again at the ECAC Championships. Eberhardt finished sixth out of 178 competitors with a time of 18:26.2. Right behind Eberhardt was classmate Krisztina Dearborn and freshman Brittany Mendelson. Mendelson finished in 9th place with a time of 18:34.8 recording her second top-ten finish in her rookie season. Dearborn crossed the finish line third for CCSU in 11th place with a final time of 18:39.7.

Rounding out the scoring runners for Central was senior Shannon McBride and junior Ally Gates. McBride finished in 40th place with a time of 19:21.8 and Gates finished in 76th place with a time of 19:56.6.

Two other runners also competed for CCSU at the championships. Junior Jazmin Booker finished just behind Gates in 80th place with a time of 20:06.8. Freshman Victoria Cronin crossed the finish line seventh for the Blue Devils and in 89th place, finishing with a time of 20:20.3 and completed the action for CCSU.

Northeast Conference rival, Sacred Heart, won the university division of the ECAC Championships with a team score of 101 points. Holy Cross finished second with a score of 107 followed by Monmouth (111) and Marist (140). CCSU finished fifth with 142 points and a total team time of 1:34:59.10.

The ECAC race marks the end of the cross country season for the Blue Devils. The women finished the 2014 season with four top-five finishes. They started the season with a third place finish at the Marist Invitational and then recorded a fifth place finish twice on their home course, Stanly Quarter Park, in the Ted Owen Invitational and CCSU Mini Meet. The highlight to the 2014 season though came on Nov. 1 at the NEC Championships at Stanley Quarter Park. The Blue Devils finished fourth out of ten NEC teams, two places better than the previous year, and saw senior Eberhardt win the individual title in New Britain.