WATERFORD, Conn. – The Saint Joseph's College men's cross country team completed the 2015 schedule with a 50th place finish in the NCAA DIII New England Regional Championship at Harness Memorial State Park on Saturday afternoon. Sophomore Lucas Fisher (Strafford, N.H.) paced the Monks with a 24:43 time and finished 186th out of 380 runners overall.
With three of the top five individual finishers, Williams College edged Amherst College, 67-68, to claim the New England crown for the sixth time in the last 10 years. Both programs advance to the NCAA DIII Championship, which will take place next Saturday in Winneconne, Wisconsin, hosted by University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.
Williams also claimed the women's title, marking the second time in the last three years that the Ephs swept the NCAA Regional Championship.
Amherst sophomore Mohamed Hussein took top individual honors with a 24:39 performance, Williams senior Bijan Mazaheri was the runner-up with a 24:42 time, Tufts junior Luke O'Connor was third (24:43), while Williams junior Peter Hale (24:46) and sophomore Ben Decker (24:51) placed fourth and fifth, respectively.
This year's regional event featured the largest number of runners in the last 14 years and seven more than last year's tally.
Tufts University finished third with 80 points, Wesleyan College was fourth (114) and MIT placed fifth (128). All three programs - ranked 17th, 32nd and eighth, respectively, in the latest USTFCCCA national poll, await the NCAA's at-large bids, which will be announced tomorrow and granted under the discretion of the USTFCCCA. The top seven individual finishers from non-qualifying teams will earn a ticket to Nationals as well.
For the Monks, senior Andrew Caron (Gardiner, Maine) was 325th (30:34), freshman Andrew Force (Lancaster, N.H.) finished 329th (30:40), senior Taidghe Hagan (Reading, Mass.) placed 346th (31:13), senior Connor Dufour (Augusta, Maine) was 365th (32:53) and freshman Avery Liotta-Henderson (Waterbury, Conn.) finished 367th (33:02).
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Saint Joseph's College is Maine's only Catholic liberal arts college, providing a supportive, personalized and career-focused education for more than 100 years. From its 474-acre campus on the shores of Sebago Lake, the College offers more than 40 undergraduate programs to a population of approximately 1,000 students. Saint Joseph's College Online provides certificates, undergraduate and advanced degrees for working adults through an online learning program. For more, visit www.sjcme.edu.
