EAST COAST CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP — COMPLETE RESULTS


ROCHESTER, N.Y. - Roberts Wesleyan University posted a perfect team score of 15 to secure first place at the 2022 East Coast Conference Men's Cross Country Championship held this morning on the Roberts Wesleyan campus.

The top five finishers were all from Roberts Wesleyan, which earned the Redhawks the perfect score. Five of the next nine finishers hailed from Daemen University, which secured the Wildcats second place among the five schools competing. The second place showing was the best-ever finish for the Daemen men, topping the previous best finish of third the Wildcats posted in 2013, 2016 and 2017. Daemen finished with a team score of 48, which is also the best score posted by the Wildcats since joining the league in 2013.

Roberts Wesleyan claimed the team title for the eighth-straight year. They were led by race winner Blake Kasper, who paced the field with a time of 26:07.2 and in the process earned ECC Runner of the Year honors. The 8K race featured 57 total competitors. Molloy (69), St. Thomas Aquinas (107) and Queens (139) rounded out the team scoring.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Daemen had a program-record five runners earn All-ECC honors today. The league awards first-team All-ECC honors to finishers one through seven, and second-team honors to finishers eight through 14.
• In addition, freshman Aidan Kincaid (Orchard Park, N.Y.) picked up ECC Rookie of the Year honors after being the top freshman finisher today. He becomes the first runner from Daemen to be named ECC Rookie of the Year.
• Junior Jon Moote (Wilson, N.Y.) earned All-ECC honors for the first time. A first-team honoree, he was the top Daemen finisher today and placed sixth overall with a time of 26:57.7. His sixth place showing ranks as the second best ever by a Daemen runner at the ECC Championships—second only to Kevin Roginson's fifth place finish in 2016.
• Senior Dominic Clementi (Barker, N.Y.) overtook Aiden Watson of Roberts Wesleyan just before the finish line to earn seven place and the final first team All-ECC award. Clementi posted a time of 27:15.9—30 seconds faster than his time at this even last year.
• Junior Connor O'Brien (Hamburg, N.Y.) collected second team All-ECC honors for the second-straight year after finishing ninth with a time of 27:32.4.
• Junior Phil Ceccarelli (Hamburg, N.Y.) competed at the ECC Championships for the first time in his three year career and earned second-team All-ECC after placing 12th with a time of 27:47.9.
• Kincaid, who was named ECC Rookie of the Week four times this season, held off Njehan Phillips of Queens to claim 14th place and the final all-conference honor. Kincaid posted a time of 27:50.5, just two seconds ahead Phillips (27:52.4).
• A total of 13 runners from Daemen competed today.
• Juniors Steven Blatto (Lancaster, N.Y.) and David Schwinger (Buffalo, N.Y.) sophomore John Balch (Saranac, N.Y.), freshman Josh Trometer (Lancaster, N.Y.) and senior John Bruggman (Batavia,N.Y.) all finished among the top-30.
• Blatto placed 18th (28:06.5), Schwinger finished 23rd (29:02.0), Balch finished 24th (29:04.2), Trometer placed 25th (29:08.7) in his first conference championship meet and Bruggman finished 30th (29.44.8).
• Junior Nolan Robillard (Hamburg, N.Y.), redshirt senior Alexander Reynolds (Olean, N.Y.) and junior Laertes Cushing (Alfred, N.Y.) rounded out the Daemen runners today. Robillard finished 32nd (30:11.2), Reynolds placed 39th (31:15.1) and Cushing finished 41st (31:36.6).
• Ceccarelli was awarded the Elite 19 Award for men's cross country for the second straight year. The ECC announced the creation of the Elite 19 award in 2017, which is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade point average competing in each of the ECC's 19 championships.

Daemen University features the premier NCAA Division II athletics program in the Buffalo-Niagara region, sponsoring 17 intercollegiate teams. For the latest information on Daemen Athletics, follow the Wildcats via social media on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, or sign up to receive customizable news alerts, e-mail newsletters and weekly schedule alerts.

Follow the Daemen men's cross country program on Twitter and Instagram at @DaemenXCTF.