Men’s Cross Country 5th at NECC Championship
WESTFIELD, Mass. – The Elms College men's cross country team raced to a fifth place finish in Saturday afternoon's New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Championship cross country races hosted by Bay Path College at Stanley Park in Westfield, Mass.
Lesley University (16) claimed its fifth consecutive conference crown led by Nick Green (Stoughton, Mass.) who christened the chute for the Lynx capturing the individual title along with the honor of being named the 2013 NECC Runner of the Year with a top time of 27:07.
Southern Vermont College was the runners-up with a team score of 65 placing their top five runners in the top 20 of the men's 8-kilometer race. Mitchell College was third with a team score of 72, while newcomer Regis College placed fourth with an 87 team score placing two runners in the top ten. The Pride's Matt Norton (Weymouth, Mass.) finished first for Regis and fifth overall with a time of 29:13 as the first rookie crossing the line being named the 2013 NECC Rookie of the Year. The fifth place finishers were the Blazers of Elms College with a team score of 149. Newbury College rounded out the team scoring with a 151 in 6thplace. Daniel Webster College, who is the only other men's team to win a championship cup back in 2008, did not receive a team score.
Elms' sophomore Adam Kuzdzal (Chicopee, Mass.) was the first Blazers' runner to cross the line with a time of 32:46. Freshman Joseph Sirois (South Easton, Mass.) was next with a time of 34:30, followed by freshman Joshua Rolon (Chicopee, Mass.) (35:42) and seniors Jesse Zina (Ludlow, Mass.) (35:43) and John Southworth (1:02:45).
Men's Runner of the Year
Nick Green, Lesley
Men's Rookie of the Year
Matt Norton, Regis
Men's Coach of the Year
Dan Flynn, Regis
Men's Team Sportsmanship
Southern Vermont
First Team All-NECC
Nick Green, Lesley
Ian Barber, Lesley
Andy Scott, Lesley
Chris Conforti, Lesley
Second Team All-NECC
Dillon Simmons, Lesley
Jonathan Paul, Regis
Kilton Webb, Lesley
Victor Velazquez, Southern Vermont
Spencer Daniel, Mitchell
