Men's, Women's Cross Country Earn Preseason National Rankings From USTFCCCA


Junior Nicole Borofski and the Stonehill women's team seeks its 16th consecutive trip to the NCAA Championships in 2015.

Skyhawk teams also top respective regional polls

EASTON, Mass. (September 4, 2015) – With the 2015 cross country season set to get underway tomorrow, the Stonehill College men's and women's programs have both earned national rankings from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), which released its preseason National Coaches' Poll on Wednesday.

The women's team landed at No. 18 in the Top-25 with 58 points, just two fewer than No. 17 Winona State University (Minn.) and three more than No. 19 Malone University (Ohio). The men's team was voted No. 21 with 39 points, one point fewer than Malone and Western Washington University, which tied at No. 19 with 40 points each. Both Stonehill squads, which are led by 18th-year head coach Karen Boen, were the only Northeast-10 Conference programs to appear in their respective polls.

Both teams also topped their respective regional polls following runner-up finishes at the 2014 NCAA East Region Championships. The women, led by junior captain Nicole Borofski (Plymouth, Massachusetts/Plymouth North), claimed their sixth consecutive NE-10 title (and 13th overall) last fall before finishing second at the East Region Championship and earning the program's 15th straight trip to the NCAA Championships.

 
Senior Dan Gordon earned All-NE-10 and All-Region honors for the Skyhawks last fall.

Borofski was among seven All-Conference and six All-Region performers for the Skyhawks in 2014, pacing Stonehill at both races with second and third place finishes, respectively. Also returning from last year's squad is junior captain Aisha McAdams (North Kingstown, Rhode Island/North Kingstown), who placed tenth at the NE-10 Championships and 16th at the East Region Championships, and sophomore Emily Knox (Worcester, Massachusetts/Notre Dame Academy), who collected four NE-10 Rookie of the Week awards during her freshman campaign.  

Despite losing six seniors to graduation, the men's team returns several experienced runners that will look to lead the program to its 13th consecutive appearance at the NCAA Championships. Senior captain Dan Gordon (Plymouth, Massachusetts/Plymouth North) finished 20th and 24th, respectively, at last season's NE-10 and East Region Championships, earning All-Conference and All-Region honors for his efforts. The junior duo of Tyler Henseler (Coventry, Rhode Island/Bishop Hendricken) and Joe Santo (Newburyport, Massachusetts/Newburyport) is also back after collecting All-NE-10 second team accolades, while sophomore Dillon McGee (Westford, Massachusetts/Westford Academy) will look to build on his impressive rookie campaign.

Stonehill opens its 2015 season tomorrow morning at the Shacklette Invitational, hosted by Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire. The Skyhawks will be off the following weekend before returning to action on Saturday, September 19th at the Kutztown Division II/Division III Challenge. The 2015 NE-10 Championships are scheduled for Sunday, October 25th in Colchester, Vermont, followed by the East Region Championships two weekends later on Sunday, November 8th at the Hopkinton State Fairgrounds in Hopkinton, New Hampshire. The season concludes on Saturday, November 21st with the NCAA DII Championships in Joplin, Missouri.

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