By Nick Rosa
Senior Sam Alexander and junior Craig Hunt took first and second this past weekend at the Northeast Conference Cross Country Championship, helping the Blue Devils to their third straight title.
Dealing with the cold weather, the team pulled together and had five Blue Devils finish in the top-20 and six in the top-25.
Alexander and Hunt finished second and third at the 2010 NEC meet last year behind former CCSU teammate Ry Sanderson. At this year’s meet, Alexander posted a time of 25:59.10, while Hunt ran the 8K course in 26:06.90. The duo finished a full 30 seconds ahead of the third place finisher from Sacred Heart, Jeffery Lusignan.
This Championship also marks Coach Eric Blake’s third consecutive title in three years since he became head coach. Blake also led his indoor track and field team to a NEC Championship last winter and eyes another in the upcoming months.
“The team ran very well, especially in such tough conditions,” Alexander said.
In the top-20 along with Hunt and Alexander was, senior Jeremy Schmid who placed 12th, freshman Andy Pullaro placing 19th, and senior Ben Lazarus who took 20th to round off the Blue Devils’ score.
Schmid ran the course in 27:11.30, Pullaro ran a 27:27.0, and Lazarus posted a time of 27:28.70.
Other displacing finishers included junior John Krell who finished in the top-25 at 22nd overall in time of 27:46.4, freshman Brian Biekert who took 35th with a time of 28:09.40, and sophomore Andrew Hill who finished 36th in a time of 28:09.70.
CCSU’s low score of 54 points put them just thirteen points in front of second place finisher St. Francis (PA) with 67 points. Mount St. Mary’s finished in third with 131 points, and the hosting team, Monmouth, took fourth with 133 points.
Alexander was very grateful for this championship as a team and not just his individual accomplishments.
“It was a very fun experience I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity and the support from everyone,” Alexander said. “Winning individually and as a team is special to me since the conference meet is so big for us.”
Aside from this being the team’s third straight NEC victory, this also marks the second consecutive individual title for CCSU.
The women’s team also placed well, earning a fourth place finish overall with a team score of 99 points. Senior Alasia Griebel took the NEC title along with Alexander in a time of 18:42.10, placing five seconds in front of the runner-up, Eimear Black of Bryant to capture the title in her first NEC Championship meet.
CCSU finished behind Quinnipiac, Sacred Heart, and Monmouth. The Bobcats won this year’s title with a low team score of 44 points. CCSU missed third place by only nine points.
Other Blue Devils that scored were sophomore Krisztina Dearborn in 13th, sophomore Elizabeth Eberhardt in 23rd, freshman Shannon McBride in 32nd and senior Amanda Asaro in 34th.
Eberhardt posted a time of 19:50.30, McBride with a time of 20:09.50, and Asaro crossed the line in 20:13.60 in this 5K race.
Coach Blake also helped the women improve one spot from the 2010 fifth place finish at last year’s NEC’s.
While the men keep winning and the women improving over these last three years, its obvious Coach Blake’s training methods mesh with his athletes. The teams will continue their training over the next couple weeks while they look to grow on their individual and team accomplishments at NCAA Regionals held in Buffalo, NY, on Nov. 12.
Cover photo by Amy Strickland, CCSU