Men's Cross Country Wins Eighth Straight NEC Title
The Blue Devils are just the second team in league history to win eight straight championships in any sport.
The Central Connecticut men's cross country team won its eighth consecutive Northeast Conference team championship with a win on the 8K course at Saint Francis U. in Loretto, PA. Central extended its run of championships by having three runners place in the top-10 and having all five of its scoring runners finish among the top 15 individual finishers. All five Blue Devils runners earned all-conference honors.
HEAD COACH ERIC BLAKE INTERVIEW
The Blue Devils join the Quinnipiac women's cross country program (2005-2012) as the only teams in conference history to win eight straight championships.
Senior Tyler Raymond led the Blue Devils runners, crossing the finish line in 26:57.6 to place second overall. Raymond turned in an average mile of 5:25.5.
Sophomores Austin Trainor and Alex Norstrom finished eighth and ninth, respectively. Trainor finished in 28:03.7, a mile pace of 5:38.8. Norstrom completed the course in 28:06.9, a pace of 5:39.4.
Senior Derek French placed 11th with a time of 28:13.9 and was followed by senior Malcolm Connor to round out the Blue Devils' scoring runners. Connor finished the course in 28:21.9.
Also competing for Central in the field of 65 runners were junior Brendan Callahan and senior Joseph Gioielli. Callahan placed 18th in the field, turning in a time of 28:54.0. Gioielli finished in 29:59.6 and placed 25th.
CCSU won the team title with 43 points, which was 10 points better than Sacred Heart. Connor Rog of Sacred Heart won the individual title with a time of 26:48.4.
The NCAA Regionals will be held on Friday, Nov. 11, at Van Cortlandt Park in New York. The IC4A/ECAC Championships will be held at Van Cortlandt Park on Saturday, Nov. 19.