#10 Stonehill Captures Fourth NE-10 Championship
Gill leads six All-Conference performers as Skyhawks rally in final mile
to claim first championship since 2007
Junior Kevin Gill earned first team All-Conference honors for the third-straight year with his second-straight second place finish. |
The Stonehill College men's cross country team, ranked tenth in this week's U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division II poll, captured its fourth Northeast-10 Conference Championship today, hosted by Saint Michael's College. Junior Kevin Gill (Brockton, Mass./Brockton) led six All-Northeast-10 performances for the Skyhawks with a second-place finish overall.COLCHESTER, Vt. (October 25, 2009) -
Stonehill took the team title, its fourth in the last six seasons, with a team score of 36 to edge three-time defending champions University of Massachusetts Lowell with 45 points. The Skyhawks, who shared the 2007 championship with the River Hawks, wins its third NE-10 title outright and first since its second of back-to-back crowns in 2004 and 2005. Stonehill placed all five of its scoring runners in the top ten and six in the top 20. Southern Connecticut State University rounded out the top three with 99 points. American International College freshman Glarius Rop (Eldoret, Kenya) took the individual title with a NE-10 Championship record time of 24:22.2 over the 8-kilometer course.
Gill earned first team All-Northeast-10 honors for the third-straight year with his second-straight second place finish with a time of 25:04.5. The Skyhawks then claimed positions seven through ten to clinch the title. Junior Pat Fullerton (Bradford, Mass./Haverhill) also earned first team All-Conference honors with his seventh-place finish in 25:32.8.
Sophomore Stephen Polito (Worcester, Mass./Doherty Memorial) and seniors Josh Andrews (Chelmsford, Mass./Chelmsford) and Dan Pilz (Newington, Conn./Newington) all earned second team All-Conference honors by finishing eighth, ninth and tenth, respectively. Polito finished the course in 25:44.4 to take All-Conference honors for the second-straight year after earning third team honors in 2008. Andrews earns All-Conference honors for the third-straight year with his time of 25:51.9, while Pilz posted second team honors for the second-straight year with his time of 25:53.1 to round out the top ten.
Junior Dan Pilz helped Stonehill clinch the title by moving from 15th to tenth place in the final mile. |
Freshman Ethan Penney (Haverhill, Mass./Haverhill) rounded out Stonehill's All-Conference performers with a 20th-place finish in 26:22.2 for third team honors. The Skyhawks six All-NE-10 performers all completed the course within a span of 1:18, with the five scoring runners finishing within a 48-second span.
Stonehill trailed UMass Lowell heading into the final mile loop on the course. The Skyhawks rallied behind Gill who moved from fourth to second in the final mile, while Pilz charged from 15th to tenth in that time, passing three River Hawk runners himself.
Stonehill swept the men's and women's championships at the event with the Skyhawk women capturing their eighth NE-10 title in the last ten years. It marks the third time Stonehill has swept the men's and women's crowns (2004 & 2007).
Stonehill is off again for two weeks before competing at the NCAA Division II East Regional Championship, hosted by UMass Lowell, on Sunday, November 8, at Franklin Park in Dorchester, Mass., at 2:30 p.m.
