Men’s Cross Country Battle Rainy Conditions, Compete at UMass Dartmouth Invitational

WESTFIELD, Mass. — Amidst the rain and mud, Westfield State men's cross country placed top 30 of 44 teams in the UMass Dartmouth Invitation on Saturday, September 21.

Westfield came in second of all MASCAC teams that raced today as well as finished as the 15th division three team of the tournament.

The Owls saw four course personal records, three of those being all-time personal records in the 8K run this weekend.

Westfield's top finisher was none other than last year's MASCAC individual champion, John Nekitopoulos (West Springfield, Mass.). Nekitopoulos finished 81 of 342 racers with a time of 26:29.11, which is his course PR and his personal record by 20 seconds for any 8K run.

Scott Porter (Boylston, Mass.) was one of four Owls athletes to have another PR as he beat his course record by a minute and 20 seconds as well as his all-time PR by four seconds with a score of 28:01.08. That was good for a finish in 198th.

The third PR from the Owls' was Gordon Johnson (Hanson, Mass.). Johnson ran 20 seconds faster than his personal record at the UMass Dartmouth course with a 201st finish and a time of 28:07.60.

The final personal best runner for Westfield was Sean Jacobson (West Springfield, Mass.). Jacobson ran a time of 30:42.58, which was good for a 165 of 232 finish in JV and an all-time personal record. He broke his own previous record by a full minute.

The Owls next meet is Saturday, October 5 at the Keene State Invitational for an 11 a.m. start time.

Written by Hunter Briggs – WSU Sports Information Graduate Assistant