FULL RESULTS
BROOKVILLE, N.Y. - The Daemen College men's cross country team put together a solid performance today while racing at the program's first-ever East Coast Conference Championships held on the campus of Long Island University Post, racing to a third place finish in the unofficial standings. Coach Jessica Gorski's squad finished with 110 total points, edging out fourth place finisher Molloy College (116 points). Roberts Wesleyan College ran away with the race (36 points) while the host Pioneers finished in second with 73 points.
Because Daemen and Roberts Wesleyan are not yet eligible to win the conference championship due to both schools' status as transitioning to full NCAA Division II membership, the race standings with them included were considered unofficial and the conference championship was awarded to LIU Post. It was the Pioneers' fifth consecutive conference crown.
Freshman Matt Cregan (Syracuse, N.Y./Solvay) and junior Zach Eustance (Hilton, N.Y./Hilton) paced the Wildcats as both runners earned Second Team All-Conference honors for their performances today.
Cregan continued his solid freshman campaign with a 10th place finish and has now been Daemen's top finisher in each of their last three races. As the top finisher today amongst first-year runners, he was named the ECC Rookie of the Year in addition to his All-Conference recognition. His time today (26:23.24) narrowly missed breaking the school record for an 8K race (26:22.39) set by Brett Smith (Ontario, N.Y./Wayne Central) at the Highlander Invitational on Sept. 24, 2011.
Eustance was right on Cregan's heels, finishing in 12th place with a time of 26:25.84, giving the juinor a new personal record.
The Wildcats also got a strong outing from junior Zac Ekdahl (Middlesex, N.Y./Marcus Whitman) who set a new personal record of his own (27:08.52).
Enock Bor of Roberts Wesleyan won the race with a time of 25:13.80, breaking the course record and earning ECC Runner of the Year recognition.
"Our men's team really knew the importance of grabbing every spot ahead of them and we truly began to race to our potential as a team," Gorski said. "Matt and Zach took the lead of our top five and pushed one another towards All-Conference finishes. Everytime I saw them on the course they had opened it up more and more and I think they really fed off of one another. Zac Ekdahl remained controlled and motivated and finished with a lifetime personal record. Our team raced with the mindset of letting go of their comfort zone and their third place overall finish proved this, especially after being ranked at the bottom half of the conference coming into the season."
The coach continued, "Today's meet and the results are still a little surreal, but not unexpected. Our team has been training extremely hard and they've really risen to every challenge at any competition we've traveled to this season."
To view the official press release from the conference office, click HERE.
Daemen will close their 2013 season at the United States Collegiate Athletic Association National Championships which will be held on Nov. 8 at Drumlins Country Club in Syracuse, N.Y.
Men's Team Results (Official)
|
Team |
Points |
|
1. LIU Post |
44 |
|
2. Molloy |
73 |
|
3. Queens |
78 |
|
4. St. Thomas Aquinas |
81 |
|
5. Dowling |
86 |
|
6. NYIT |
136 |
|
7. Bridgeport |
200 |
Men's Team Results (Unofficial w/Roberts Wesleyan and Daemen)
|
Team |
Points |
|
1. Roberts Wesleyan |
36 |
|
2. LIU Post |
73 |
|
3. Daemen |
110 |
|
4. Molloy |
116 |
|
5. Queens |
118 |
|
6. St. Thomas Aquinas |
120 |
|
7. Dowling |
129 |
|
8. NYIT |
194 |
|
9. Bridgeport |
270 |
Men's Cross Country All-Conference First Team
Name (Time)
Enock Bor, Roberts Wesleyan (25:13.80) - course record
Joseph Lasher, LIU Post (25:28.62)
Michael Galonski, STAC (25:34.08)
Kevin Brown, Roberts Wesleyan (25:40.77)
Scott Litts, Dowling (25:44.38)
Thomas Rodger, Roberts Wesleyan (25:56.39)
Kurt Samuel, Queens (26:01.68)
Men's Cross Country All-Conference Second Team
Name (Time)
Justin Bender, Roberts Wesleyan (26:03.33)
Peter Kramer, Queens (26:06.26)
Matthew Cregan, Daemen (26:23.24)
Terrence McElhatton, Dowling (26:23.70)
Zachery Eustace, Daemen (26:25.84)
Conor Gallagher, Molloy (26:26.42)
Matthew O'Keefe, LIU Post (26:28.25)
Men's Cross Country Runner of the Year - Enock Bor, Roberts Wesleyan
Men's Cross Country Rookie of the Year - Matthew Cregan, Daemen
Men's Cross Country Coaches of the Year - Andrew and Jennifer Dorr, Roberts Wesleyan
