Senior Robert Massey was Stonehill's top finisher at the NE-10 Championships, finishing in fifth place with a time of 25:22.3. |
Skyhawks aiming for 13th consecutive trip to NCAA DII Championships
EASTON, Mass. (November 6, 2015) – The Stonehill College men's cross country team, ranked 24th in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division II poll, and ranked second in the East Region, will look to punch its 13th straight ticket to the NCAA DII National Championship this Sunday at the East Regionals in Hopkinton, New Hampshire.
Stonehill finished in second place at the Northeast-10 Championship two weekends ago in Colchester, Vermont, with a 72 point effort. The Skyhawks finished behind American International (48 points) who claimed the top spot in the East Region with the win. Four student-athletes earned a spot on the NE-10 All-Conference team for Stonehill, including, seniors Robert Massey (Chelmsford, Massachusetts/Chelmsford), Dan Gordon (Plymouth, Massachusetts/Plymouth North), junior Joe Santo (Newburyport, Massachusets/Newburyport) and freshman Riley Dowd (Peabody, Massachusetts/Peabody Veterans Memorial).
On Sunday, Stonehill will again look to senior captain Robert Massey to set the pace for the rest of the team. Massey has been Stonehill's top finisher in two of the races that he has competed in this season, and finished fifth overall at the NE-10 Championship, completing the eight-kilometer course in 25:22.3. The Chelmsford, Massachusetts native has had success at the East Regional in the past, earning All-East Region honors in 2013 when he finished in eighth place.
Gordon, a four-time All-NE-10 performer after his 14th place finish at the NE-10 Championships, is the most experienced returning runner for Stonehill at the East Regional Championships. The senior has earned All-East Region honors on three separate occasions with his 24th place finish in 32:27.4 last fall being his most recent.
Santo and Dowd have also been strong performers for the Skyhawks this fall. Santo, a two-time All-NE-10 performer after placing tenth overall two weeks ago, led the squad to a runners up finish at the Kutztown DII/DIII challenge with a fifth-place finish in 26:23.6. Dowd finished sixth overall at the Shacklette Invitational earlier this fall, and earned third team All-NE-10 honors at the NE-10 Championships after finishing in 21st place.
Juniors Tyler Henseler (Coventry, Rhode Island/Bishop Hendricken) and Antonio Xelhua (Arlington, Massachusetts/Arlington) will enter Sunday's race with high hopes as Henseler earned All-NE-10 honors a year ago after placing 11th overall. Xelhua just missed out on earning All-Conference honors, finishing 22nd overall with a time of 26:06.8. Xelhua also has a top five finish under his belt this fall, pacing the Skyhawks and coming in fifth place at the Shacklette Invitational.
Freshman Larry Carney (Lowell, Massachusetts/Lowell) will be running in his first East Regionals on Sunday, looking to build off of his early top ten finish at the Shacklette Invitational on September 5th.
With a top-3 finish on Sunday, Stonehill would advance to its 13th consecutive NCAA Division II National Championship. The event will take place in Joplin, Missouri, hosted by Missouri Southern State University, the weekend of November 21-23.
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