NEW BRITAIN, CONN. - The Monmouth University women's and men's cross country teams registered second and fourth place finishes, respectively, at the 2010 Northeast Conference Championships, Saturday afternoon at Stanley Quarter Park. The women's team was lead by three top-ten finishers in junior Jen Nelson (Barnegat, N.J./Barnegat), graduate student Christina Nelson (Little Silver, N.J./Red Bank) and sophomore Kelsey Maher (Jackson, N.J./Jackson Memorial). The men were paced by senior Ben Hutterer's (Saxonburg, Pa./Knoch) fifth place finish. Head coach Joe Compagni was named Women's Coach of the Year, selected by his peers, the 23rd time overall (cross country and track and field combined) he has claimed the honor, the most for a coach in any sport in NEC history.
Quinnipiac's women won its sixth consecutive NEC championship, finishing with 34 points, followed by the Hawks with 69 points, which is the third best score in school history. Monmouth has finished among the top four at the championships the last nine seasons. Sacred Heart finished third posting 109 points, followed by Robert Morris (115), host school Central Connecticut State (132), and Saint Francis (Pa.) (135). Mount Saint Mary's, Bryant, Wagner, Fairleigh Dickinson, Saint Francis (N.Y.) and Long Island rounded out the 12 team field.
"The women were very tough today," said Compagni. "Quinnipiac had a strong day but our women had 10 strong races and we could not be prouder of the way they competed."
For the second straight year, Monmouth had a fifth place finisher as Jennifer Nelson crossed the finish line in the 5k race in 17:53.9. Christina Nelson finished eighth, posting a time of 18:08.9 followed by Maher, who finished 3.1 seconds later in ninth. Freshman Lucia Montefusco (Levittown, N.Y./MacArthur) registered a 20th place finish, posting a time of 18:44.6 trailed by senior Christine Altland (Hazlet, N.J./Raritan) who finished in 19:00.5. Monmouth's top five ran an average of 18:23.9, the best average in program history. Amanda Eller (Delmont, N.J./Millville) and Emily MacEwen (South Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury) rounded out the top seven for the Hawks, finishing in 19:02.1 and 19:15.1, good for 30th and 39th place, respectively.
Jennifer Nelson, Christina Nelson, and Maher all were honored by being named to Northeast Conference All-Conference Team, as all three ran under the MU course record at CCCSU.
Host squad Central Connecticut took the men's championship with 30 points, followed by Saint Francis (Pa.) with 56 points and Sacred Heart registering 74 points. The Hawks finished fourth, posting a score of 105, trailed by Wagner and Bryant who posted scores of 172 and 195, respectively. Mount St. Mary's (213), Quinnipiac (225), Robert Morris (230), St. Francis (N.Y.) (238), Fairleigh Dickinson (287) and Long Island (377) rounded out the field. The Blue and White finished within the top four for the fourth time in the last five years.
"The top four teams in the NEC on the men's side may be better than ever," commented Compagni. "Our men were aggressive and made every effort to stay near the front and we certainly had some strong efforts."
Hutterer, an All-NEC Team selection, finished the 5.1 course in a school record 25:51.9 good for fifth overall. Junior Dan Collura (Jackson, N.J./Jackson Memorial) finished 18th, in 26:21.2 followed by classmate Todd Apgar (Somers, N.Y./Somers) who registered a time of 26:42.2 in 26th overall. Senior Billy Dowd (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's) finished three seconds later in 27th followed by junior Garth DeBlasio (Millstone, N.J./Allentown) and freshman Seth Robbins (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) who finished in 26:48.4 and 27:02.2, respectively. Junior Mike Bertocchi (Morris Plains, N.J./Parsippany Hills) rounded out the top seven for the Hawks, completing the race in 27:11.7. The men's top five posted an average of 26:21, which is the best ever at CCSU.
Monmouth returns to action on Saturday, November 13th, as both men's and women's teams travel to University Park for the NCAA Regional's hosted by Penn State starting at noon.
