Men's Cross Country Tallies Runner-Up Mark at Northeast-10 Championship

Taxter was the first Skyhawk across the finish line as he ran in his first NE-10 Championship

Taxter leads four Skyhawks with All-Conference performances

EASTON, Mass. (October 22, 2016) – The Stonehill College men's cross country team, ranked second in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) East Regional polls, finished as runners up at the 2016 Northeast-10 Conference men's cross country championship hosted by the Skyhawks Saturday afternoon.

Stonehill, which saw four runners post All-Northeast-10 Conference performances on the day, finished with 74 points, just 47 points behind American International College who captured its third consecutive NE-10 title, with 27 points. Third place Bentley University (121 points), fourth place Franklin Pierce University (134) and Southern New Hampshire University (141) rounded out the top five. American International sophomore Leakey Kipkosgei won his first individual championship as he completed the eight-kilometer course in 24:35.4.

Sophomore Lucas Taxter (Readville, Mass./Xaverian Brothers) led Stonehill's All-Conference performers with a seventh-place finish to earn first-team honors with his time of 25:36.3 in his first NE-10 Championship. Classmate Riley Dowd (Peabody, Mass./Peabody Veterans Memorial) earned second-team honors with his time of 25:45.1 to place 11th overall. Dowd best his 26:05.5 time from last years' championship.

Freshman Michael Durkin (Hingham, Mass./Hingham) earned All-NE-10 second team accolades after a 14th-place mark with a career-best time of 25:49.3 in his first NE-10 Championship. Sophomore Alexander Demeule (Merrimac, Mass./Pentucket Regional) crossed the finish with a time of 26:04.4, good for 19th place and Stonehill's final All-Conference nod for the third team and first for Demeule.   

Senior Joe Santo (Newburyport, Mass./Newburyport) finished 23rd overall with a time of 26:12.9, while junior Jimmy Murphy (Mansfield, Mass./Mansfield) followed right behind with a time of 26:16.5. Sophomore Alex Southiere (Cumberland, R.I./Cumberland) was the Skyhawks seventh runner across the line, finishing 27th with a career-best time of 26:22.4, as senior Antonio Xelhua (Arlington, Mass./Arlington) clocked in right behind Southiere with a time of 26:23.2.

Junior Sam Bradford (Bedford, Mass./Bedford) finished the 8k-Championship run with a time of 26:40.1 (33rd) and freshman Chris Gendron (Lowell, Mass./Lowell) completed his first NE-10 Championship race with a career-best time of 26:44.8, good for 37th place.

Rounding out Stonehill's entries was junior Kenny Vinacco (Scituate, R.I./Scituate), sophomore Chris Drace (Franklin, N.J./Pope John XXIII), senior Daniel Nolan (Chelmsford, Mass./Chelmsford), and senior Tyler Henseler (Coventry, R.I./Bishop Hendricken). Vinacco placed 47th in 27:05.4, while Drace finished in 52nd, posting a time of 27:19.8 in his first NE-10 championship. Nolan followed placing 53rd, earning a time of 27:21.6 and Henseler rounded out the bunch, finishing in 54th place out of 154 competitors with a time of 27:22.1.

Following today's Northeast-10 Conference Championship, Stonehill returns to action on November 5th at the NCAA Division II East Regional Championships, held at the Hopkinton State Fairgrounds in Hopkinton, New Hampshire, and hosted by Franklin Pierce University.

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