CCSU Heads to Bryant for NEC Championships on Sunday

The Central Connecticut men's and women's cross country teams will head to Bryant for the 2021 Northeast Conference Championships on Sunday, February 28. The women's 5K race will begin at 12:30 pm, followed by the men's 8K race at 1:30 pm. The first five finishers for each race will earn points for their school.

No fans will be allowed at the competition, but the races will stream for free on Necfrontrow.com. 

MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY | CHAMPIONSHIP HEADQUARTERS | STREAM | COURSE MAP

Sophomore Elias Field looks to build off his breakout freshman season. Field was named the NEC Rookie of the Year in 2019. He finished seventh in the men's 8K race at the 2019 NEC Championships. 

Fellow sophomore Eddie Nicholas ran a personal best 26:04.3 8K at the 2019 NEC Championships. Lone senior David Kerns ran his personal best 8K (27:51.1) at the previous NEC Championships.   

WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY | CHAMPIONSHIP HEADQUARTERS | STREAM | COURSE MAP

The women are looking to defend the title for a third straight season. The Blue Devils are led by senior Angie Rafter, who is coming off a career year. She was named the NEC Individual Champion after winning the 5K race with a time of 17:28.5. Rafter won 5K at the annual Ted Owen Invitational in 2019, as well as the gold in the 3K at the CCSU Mini Meet with a time of 9:51.5. 

Junior Ashley Dana ran a personal best 5K at the 2019 NEC Championships with a 18:19.9, which was good for ninth place. Sophomore Brooke Morabito won the 2019 NEC Rookie of the Year and was the first freshman to finish at the NEC Championships last season with a time of 18:43.4.

No Spectator Policy

As the Northeast Conference prepares to host championships in the months of February, March and early April, it has announced it will not permit any spectators to attend the following NEC Championships: Men's and Women's Cross Country, Men's and Women's Basketball, Women's Bowling, Women's Volleyball, and Men's and Women's Swimming & Diving. Decisions about allowing spectators at NEC Championship events conducted beginning in mid-April will be made at a future date. 

Since last March the NEC membership has been working diligently to develop and implement policies and protocols to allow our student-athletes and coaches to compete in a safe and healthy environment. To date, none of our institutions have permitted spectators to attend on-campus events in accordance with campus and local health guidelines. The decision to preclude spectators at NEC championship events was not made lightly, as it prohibits our loyal fans, as well as the friends and families of our student-athletes and coaches from watching their teams compete for an NEC title in person. This mandate applies to NEC Championship events only; spectator policies for regular season events will continue to be made at the local and campus levels. We invite all of our fans to follow, for free, NEC regular season and championship action on NEC Front Row (necfrontrow.com) and via the NEC on the Run app.