Men’s Cross Country Cruises to Third-Place Finish in Second NEC Championship Appearance

Black finished in sixth-place to earn All-NEC honors in his second NEC Championship appearance. (PHOTO BY Matt Kipp)

BROOKVILLE, N.Y. (October 28, 2023) - Fifth-year Colin Black (Hopedale, Mass./Hopedale) earned All-NEC honors with a sixth-place finish as the Stonehill men's cross country team placed third on the campus of LIU Saturday afternoon at the Northeast Conference championships.

In just their second year in the NEC, the Skyhawks improved on their fourth-place finish from a season ago, placing third with 71 points as they saw two runners finish in the top 10. Central Connecticut State claimed the top spot in the conference with 29 points followed by Merrimack with 60 points.

"The men needed all of our guys to have a strong race and we just didn't have the depth up front," said head coach Karen Boen. "Colin Black was outstanding and Dylan Brilliant, the first true freshman and second rookie to finish in the NEC, was also key. We were hoping for second place, but Merrimack was better today. CCSU… stellar!"

Highlights

Black's sixth-place finish came with a time of 25:40.0 in the men's 8k race, as he earned a spot on the All-NEC team (top-15 finishers). He earned All-NEC honors a season ago with a 10th-place finish in his NEC Championship debut in 2022.
Freshman Dylan Brilliant (Plymouth, Mass./Plymouth South) also earned All-NEC honors in his NEC Championship debut as he crossed the finish line in 25:51.8 to finish ninth.
Fellow freshman Brendan Wilder (Waltham, Mass./Waltham) was the third Skyhawk to finish the race, clocking in at 26:34.8 for a 19th-place finish.

Brilliant earned All-NEC honors with his ninth place finish, pictured above with NEC Commisioner Noreen Morris. (PHOTO BY Matt Kipp)

Other Performances

Junior Jace Hollenbach (Topsham, Maine/Mt. Ararat) finished less than one second behind Wilder at 26:35.4 to come in 20th place.
Another spot behind Wilder and Hollenbach was freshman Ryan Pereira (Danbury, Conn./Danbury) who also had another impressive championship debut, placing 21st with a time of 26.40.2.

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