Oct. 27, 2006

2006 NEC Women's Championship Results

2006 NEC Women's Championship Results

BRONX, N.Y. (October 27, 2006) - The Sacred Heart men and women's cross country teams ran at the 2006 Northeast Conference Championship Friday afternoon at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, N.Y. The women finished third with sophomore Kathleen Henry (Basking Ridge, NJ) taking home All-NEC honors with a fifth place finsh. The men finished 10th at the event.

Quinnipiac took home both the men and women's titles on Friday. The Bobcat women won their second straight NEC Cross Country Championship led by freshman Kristen Stevens, who won the individual crown with a time of 18:14.9.

Quinnipiac had six runners place in the top-12 and finished far ahead of the field with 28 points. Saint Francis (PA) (52 points) took second, followed by Sacred Heart (109) in third and Monmouth (131) in fourth. Central Connecticut State (135) was fifth, followed in order by Robert Morris (151), Wagner (157), Mount St. Mary's (210), St. Francis (NY) (253), Long Island (263) and Fairleigh Dickinson (343).

Henry ran an 18:43.1 on the 5K course, earning all-conference honors for the second-straight season. Senior Katie Duffy (Monroe, CT) just missed All-NEC honors by finishing 15th overall with a time of 19:12.4.

Senior Anne Duffy (Monroe, CT) ran in 17th place with a time of 19:26.1. Rounding out the Pioneer field was freshman Sarah Tencza (Succasunna, NJ) in 26th (20:10.4), senior Kathryn O'Connor (Bellmore, NY) in 46th (20:45.8), freshman Theresa Campbell (Colonia, NJ) in 47th (20:52.2) and sophomore Mary Coakley (Plattsburgh, NY) in 53rd (21:13.8).

On the men's side, SHU's top finisher was sophomore David Jones (Charlton, NY) who finished in 29th with a time of 27:24.7. Freshman Brendan Rickert (Danbury, CT) was 50th (28:30.9) followed by sophomore John Kenworthy (Gloversville, NY) in 54th (28:36.6), senior Robert McDermott (Lindenhurst, NY) in 55th (28:45.7) and freshman Ryan Murdoch (Niantic, CT) in 58th (28:58.7).

Quinnipiac put on a dominating performance to win its second NEC Men's Cross Country title in the last three years. Fairleigh Dickinson freshman Sam Chelanga crossed the tape in 24:03 - nearly two minutes ahead of the next finisher - to win the individual crown.

With seven runners in the top-14 overall, Quinnipiac ran away with the victory, ending with 32 points. Monmouth (75) was the runner-up, with Mount St. Mary's (81) taking third. Central Connecticut State (130) finished fourth, followed in order by Robert Morris (173), Saint Francis (PA) (175), Wagner (213), Fairleigh Dickinson (221), St. Francis (NY) (223), Sacred Heart (225) and Long Island (238).