Women’s Cross Country 2nd at NECC Championship
WESTFIELD, Mass. – The Elms College women's cross country team raced to a second 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 claimed three of the first four places and sported five of the top eight finishers in the five-kilometer race, compiling a team score of 22 points, while Elms tallied 66 points en route to a second place finish. Regis College finished third with 75 points, Mitchell College captured fourth place with 102 points, Southern Vermont College earned fifth place with 127 points, Bay Path sealed sixth place with 149 points and Newbury College rounded out the field with 170 points.
Miller's 5K time of 18:48.13 edged Lesley senior teammate Ana Lutkevich(Mansfield, Mass.), who clocked in at 20:20 for the individual championship and NECC Runner of the Year honors, while Regis freshman Siobhan McLaughlin (Derry, N.H.) garnered NECC Rookie of the Year honors with a third place showing of 20:26.29. Elms' Matt Dyer was honored as 2013 NECC Coach of the Year, while the Blazers also were honored with the Team Sportsmanship Award.
Elms' senior Devon DeGrazia (Westport, Mass.) earned Second Team All-NECC honors with a sixth place overall time of 21:04 with the third fastest time by an Elms runner on any 5-kilometer course. Junior Rachel Lehouillier (Belchertown, Mass.) was 11th overall with a time of 22:33, freshman Samantha White (Tolland, Mass.) (22:38), sophomore Emma Bernard (Springfield, Mass.) and junior Shirley Ryan (Brimfield, Mass.) finished 14th, 16th and 19th respectively to give Elms five runners in the top 20.
Senior Gabrielle Calvanese (Agawam, Mass.) (25:36), junior Emily Taylor (Ludlow, Mass.) (26:00), junior Maddie Boehm (Sutton, Mass.) (29:35) and senior Stephanie Konstantinidis (Holyoke, Mass.) (30:08) rounded out the Blazers' squad.
Women's Runner of the Year
Leah Miller, Lesley
Women's Rookie of the Year
Siobhan McLaughlin, Regis
Women's Coach of the Year
Matt Dyer, Elms College
Women's Team Sportsmanship
Elms College
First Team All-NECC
Leah Miller, Lesley
Ana Lutkevich, Lesley
Siobhan McLaughlin, Regis
Jackie Rosa, Lesley
Schyler McGuire, Southern Vermont
Second Team All-NECC
Devon DeGrazia, Elms
Kat Vicino, Lesley
Elena Pereira, Lesley
Haley Omasta, Southern Vermont
Sheilah Newcity, Mitchell
