Men’s Cross Country Places Second at MASCAC Championship
Westfield State sophomore Nathan Sylven finished third individually as the Owls placed second as a team at the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship meet from Doyle Conservation Center in Leominster, Mass. on Saturday afternoon.
WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State sophomore Nate Sylven (Wrentham, Mass.) finished third individually as the Owls placed second as a team at the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship meet from Doyle Conservation Center in Leominster, Mass. on Saturday afternoon.
The Owls totaled 56 points with Bridgewater State winning the meet after placing five of the top ten runners, earning the low score of 23 points on the afternoon. Fitchburg State finished in the top three with 73 points followed by Framingham State (108), Worcester State (128), then Mass. Maritime (148).
Sylven earned MASCAC All-Conference honors by finishing third, posting a time of 26:35.05 to beat out Bears runner Kyle Ackroyd (Charlestown, R.I.) by three one hundredths of a second. Kevin McBirney (East Bridgewater, Mass.) of Bridgewater secured the individual honors, topping the performance list with a time of 26:20.99. Taban Manyok (Lynn, Mass.) from Fitchburg finished second, crossing the tape in 26:25.66.
Senior John Nekitopoulos (West Springfield, Mass.) was next to cross the line for Westfield, placing in 11th with a time of 27:09.65. Five straight Owls' athletes followed in the 13-17 range, led by senior Scott Porter (Boylston, Mass.) who registered a time of 27:42.20.
"The men executed well," said Owls head coach Marlee Berg. "I am proud of how far we've come as a program and am excited to see what's next to come."
Jarrod Ledvina (Fairhaven, Mass.), Gordon Johnson (Hanson, Mass.), Brandon Hager (Hanson, Mass.), and Will Buckley (Plymouth, Mass.) followed Porter's placement and time as the top five Owls scorers all placed inside the top 15.
"It was cool to see how the men's 8k race unfolded," added Berg. "Teams were making different moves at different times which made for great competition."
Westfield State will have a week off before preparing for the NCAA Division III Mideast Regionals on Saturday, November 16 from Harkness Memorial State Park in Waterford, Conn.