Nicholas, Diaz Claim Top Five Finishes at CCSU Mini Meet

Eddie Nicholas and Yankarlos Diaz had strong finishes at Friday's CCSU Mini Meet, taking two of the top five spots and helping CCSU claim a second place finish as a team.

MEET INFORMATION

TEAM SCORE 55 (Second out of 12)

KEY MOMENTS

• Nicholas started off with an early advantage and held onto it for the duration of Friday's 5K. The top two finishers in the 5K carved out a lead insurmountable for the rest, but Nicholas was able to stay in a pod of his own towards the top and finished fourth with a time of 14:58.7, nearly ten seconds behind the fifth place finisher, his teammate Diaz. 
• Going into the last few yards of the 5K, it seemed that Diaz would have an impressive finish right around 10-11th. After rounding the final corner of the race, Diaz decided he had other plans in store. The junior runner kicked things up a notch, and passed a number of runners on the way to the finish line, clocking a fifth place finish with a time of 15:07.8.
• Rounding out the top 10 in the race, freshman James Sullivan crossed the line with a time of 15:11.2, good enough for 10th place. This is his third top 10 finish this season, already recording fourth and eighth place finishes.
• Classmate Greg McGuire was not far behind Sullivan, placing 13th with a time of 15:14.8.

NOTES

• Nicholas and Sullivan took home Athlete and Rookie of the Week the last time the team was eligible.
• The top finishers for the Blue Devils were able to stick together well during the last stretch, something head coach Eric Blake is hoping to emulate in the NEC Championship next week.

UP NEXT...

The men's team will be competing in the Northeast Conference Championship on October 30, running again on their home course of Stanley Quarter Park. The men's team has finished second at the NEC Championship for the past two seasons.