Men's Cross Country 11/2/2013 10:22:00 PM

Men’s Cross Country claims 13th straight CCC Championship

BIDDEFORD, Maine – For the 13^th straight year, the Roger Williams University Men's Cross Country has won The Commonwealth Coast Conference Championship.

"We had what I like to call 'Lethal Depth' today, putting five runners in the top-10, and nearly a sixth, as our sixth man was 11th overall," said Head Coach Sean Livingston.

John Ferguson (Bethel, Conn.) earned his second consecutive individual conference crown, winning the race in 26:25.5 and earning CCC Runner of the Year honors.

"He ran a smart, controlled race," said Head Coach Sean Livingston. Once he made his move to take the lead, it became a race for second. In the four conference championships he's now run, that makes two second-place finishes and two firsts."

Jack Dunleavy (Orange, Conn.) finished right on Ferguson's heels, taking second place in 26:39.4 and earning All-CCC honors. Doug Sasso (Watertown, Conn.) and Chris Busby (Merrimack, N.H.) were fourth sixth overall, clocking in at 26:48.4 and 27:04.0 and earning all-conference honors

"The three finishes by those guys was just I was looking for."

The clincher was freshman Ian Fullerton's (East Longmeadow, Mass.) finish. With his eighth-place finish (27:18.2), he earned all-conference Honors and was the team's fifth and final scorer.

"You just can't lose a race when you put five in the top eight. One of the biggest stories of this year's team is our depth."

Ben Lane (Groveland, Mass.) just barely missed out on all-conference recognition, coming in 11^th in 27:29.1 and just missing the last all-conference spot by less than one second.

"It was a bittersweet placement, but Ben has improved so much since his freshmen year, there's no disappointment from me."

Connor Dunleavy (Orange, Conn.) was steps behind Lane and did very well, coming in 12^th at 27:32.4. David Fitol and Dan Herbein (York, Maine) were next across the line, working their way up through the field and coming in 17^th (27:52.0) and 18^th (28:13.4).

Troy Lange (Smithfield, R.I.) broke 29 minutes for the first time (28:57.5), placing 28^th and just behind classmate Michael Salnikov (Brookline, Mass.) who came in 24^th (28:45.0). Fellow freshman Brenden Gillis (Needham, Mass.) ran his best race of the fall, clocking in at 29:07.8 in 33^rd.

Joseph Hurley (Madison, Conn.) and Jeremy Kacher (Waltham, Mass.) came in back-to-back for the Hawks in 35^th (29:09.8) and 36^th (29:11.9) while David Balise (Feeding Hills, Mass.) improved by 50 seconds compared to when he ran this course back in September, placing in 29:25.3. Sean Doyle (Guilderland, N.Y.) took 53^rd in 30:07.5.

"The entire team had a heck of day from runners 1 through 16. They all bought in to the race plan, came ready to put it on the line, and it couldn't have been executed with better precision."

The Hawks will be at the ECAC Championship next week.

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