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Xelhua was the first Stonehill man across the finish line at the National Catholic Championship |
Skyhawks finish 13th overall among 41 programs, led by Xelhua's 16th place finish
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (September 16, 2016) – The Stonehill College men's cross country team, ranked 19th overall in this week's U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Association (USTFCCCA) Division II poll, raced to a fifth-place finish among College Division entries (Division II and III) on Friday afternoon at the National Catholic Championships hosted by the University of Notre Dame at Burke Golf Course.
Stonehill scored 166 points for its fifth place finish among the 28 Division II and III programs competing at the Catholic Championships, with Bellarmine College winning the College Division title with 68 points to edge out No. 24 Walsh College (69), with No. 12 Lewis University placing third (91) and Loras College fourth (105). Saint Louis University won the Division I title with 52 points, followed by host Notre Dame (70) and University of Dayton (76). Stonehill's total time by its five scoring runners of 2:15:01 was 13th fastest among the 39 programs competing at the event overall.
Senior Antonio Xelhua (Arlington, Mass./Arlington) finished 16th in the college division with a time of 26:25.8 on the five-mile course. Senior Daniel Nolan (Chelmsford, Mass./Chelmsford) was the next Skyhawk to cross the finish with a time of 26:48.0, a 26th-place mark in the college division. Junior Kenny Vinacco (Scituate, R.I./Scituate) tallied a 35th-place tally in the college division with a time of 26:59.8, while sophomore Lucas Taxter (Readville, Mass./Xaverian Brothers) was close behind in 44th with a time of 27:15.2.
Sophomore Riley Dowd (Peabody, Mass./Peabody Veterans Memorial) rounded out the top-five Skyhawks to finish with a time of 27:32.1 finishing 51st in the college division, as Sophomore Alex Demeule (Merrimac, Mass./Pentucket Regional) finished right behind him with a time of 27:34.2. Sophomore Larry Carney (Lowell, Mass./Lowell) placed 61st in the college division clocking in at 27:53.9. Senior Tyler Henseler (Coventry, R.I./Bishop Hendricken) crossed the finish 79th at a time of 28:19.6.
Saturday, September 18 will see some Skyhawk runners compete in the 44th annual UMass Dartmouth Invitational. The men will begin at 11:15 a.m., while the women start at noon.
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