Men And Women’s Cross Country Finish 3rd And 5th At NECC Championship Race
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WATERFORD, Conn. – Elms College freshman Jesse Zina (Ludlow, Mass.) finished the men's 8-kilometer race in a time of 31:38 and placed 10th overall, while senior Alycia Dabrowski (Chicopee, Mass.) crossed the line 15th overall in the women's 5-kilometer race in a time of 23:46 to help pace the Blazers to third and fifth place finishes respectively in Saturday's 2010 New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Championship cross country race at Harkness Memorial State Park hosted by Mitchell College.
On the men's side, Lesley University garnered team championship honors for the second straight season as six Lynx placed in the top 10 giving Lesley a team score of 20. Mitchell placed second with a team score of 47, followed by Elms in third with 71 points and Southern Vermont College in fourth with 111. Newbury College and Daniel Webster College did not register a team score.
Lesley's Kyle Casiglio (Shelton, Conn.) crossed the finish line first with a time of 27:00, more than a minute ahead of his closest competitor. He was named both NECC Runner and Rookie of the Year. Mitchell's John Hoffman (Bala Cynwyd, Pa.) finished as runner-up for the second consecutive year with a time of 28:05.
Lesley posted its third consecutive title in the women's race as the Lynx crossed the line 1-9 en route to a team score of 15. Wheelock College finished second (70), Newbury placed third (93), Mitchell came in fourth (108) and Elms finished fifth with a score of 111. Bay Path College (181), Daniel Webster (190) and Southern Vermont (204) rounded out the final three places in the eight team field.
Lynx's Noa Kupfer (Woodbridge, Conn.) repeated as women's champion with a time of 20:19 and was named NECC Runner of the Year for the second time in her career. Teammate Leah Miller (Thomaston, Conn.) finished as runner-up with a time of 20:39 and earned NECC Rookie of the Year honors.
For the Blazers, Zina turned in the best performance of his season as he is now fourth on Elms' all-time top times list for any 8-kilometer course. For his 10th place finish, Zina garnered Second Team All-NECC honors.
Men's Cross Country
Runner of the Year – Kyle Casiglio, Lesley University
Rookie of the Year – Kyle Casiglio, Lesley University
Coach of the Year – Dan Flynn, Lesley University
Team Champion – Lesley University
Team Runner-up – Mitchell College
Team Sportsmanship Award – Newbury College
All-Conference First Team
Kyle Casiglio – Lesley
John Hoffman – Mitchell
Chris Conforti – Lesley
John Morgan – Newbury
Brian Axelrod – Lesley
All-Conference Second Team
Max Bulger – Lesley
Drew Castagna – Mitchell
Gus Peluso – Lesley
Modesto Boton-Rodriguez – Lesley
Jesse Zina – Elms
Women's Cross Country|
Runner of the Year – Noa Kupfer, Lesley University
Rookie of the Year – Leah Miller, Lesley University
Coach of the Year – Dan Flynn, Lesley University
Team Champion – Lesley University
Team Runner-up – Wheelock College
Team Sportsmanship Award – Bay Path College
All-Conference First Team
Noa Kupfer – Lesley
Leah Miller – Lesley
Jessica Foster – Lesley
Elize McKelvey – Lesley
Kat Vicino – Lesley
All-Conference Second Team
Jacqueline Rosa – Lesley
Anastassia Lutkevich – Lesley
Stephanie Burian – Lesley
Elizabeth Moses – Lesley
Solange Thomas – Newbury
