Senior Dan Zawalich led Stonehill to a second place finish at the DII/DIII Challenge today, as he won the individual title with a time of 25:43.1 |
Senior from Paxton, Mass. wins individual title in 25:43
KUTZTOWN, Pa. (September 13, 2014) – Senior Dan Zawalich (Paxton, Massachusetts/St. John's) finished first overall in 25:43 to lead the Stonehill College men's cross country team, receiving votes in the latest U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division II poll, and ranked third in the East Region, to a second-place finish today at the Division II/Division III Challenge, hosted by Kutztown University in Kutztown, Pennsylvania.
Zawalich was followed by a pack of six runners from Lock Haven University, which won today's meet with 20 total points. Stonehill finished second with 44 points, followed by Tiffin University (101 points), West Chester University (110 points), Philadelphia University (138 points), and host Kutztown (144 points).
Senior captain Bryan Wilcox (Plantsville, Connecticut/Southington) was Stonehill's second finisher today, as he completed the eight-kilometer course in 26:16.3, good for eighth place out of 75 total competitors.
Three spots behind Wilcox was fellow senior captain Trent Fontanella (Pelham, New Hampshire/Bishop Guertin), who placed 11th overall and clocked in at 26:22. Sophomore Daniel Nolan (Chelmsford, Massachusetts/Chelmsford) finished 13th in 26:30.1, while senior Michael Gendron (Lowell, Massachusetts/Lowell), who placed third at last week's Shacklette Invitational, crossed the finish line 14th today with a time of 26:34.
Junior Robert Massey (Chelmsford, Massachusetts/Chelmsford) followed Gendron with a 15th place effort, posting a time of 26:38.8, while sophomores Adam Rego (Rumford, Rhode Island/La Salle Academy) and Joseph Santo (Newburyport, Massachusetts/Newburyport) finished 18th and 20th, respectively, with marks of 26:44.8 and 26:47.4.
Senior Seamus McEvoy (Longmeadow, Massachusetts/Longmeadow) placed 21st in 26:50.8, and he was followed by Stonehill's top freshman finisher, Dillon McGee (Westford, Massachusetts/Westford Academy), who registered a time of 26:51.1, good for 22nd overall. McGee was also the first freshman to finish at last weekend's Shacklette Invitational, when he posted a fifth-place effort in his first collegiate meet.
Sophomore Tyler Henseler (Coventry, Rhode Island/Bishop Hendricken) placed 25th in 27:00.4, while senior Dan Gordon (Plymouth, Massachusetts/Plymouth North) finished 33rd with a time of 27:17.4.
Rounding out Stonehill's participants today were freshmen Alex Southiere (Cumberland, Rhode Island/Cumberland) and Sam Bradford (Bedford, Massachusetts/Bedford), and sophomore Antonio Xelhua (Arlington, Massachusetts/Arlington). Southiere placed 40th in 27:43.7, followed by Xelhua (41st in 27:51.4) and Bradford (46th in 28:05.9).
Stonehill will be off for the next two weekends before returning to action on October 4th at the Paul Short Run, hosted by Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
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