Copyright 2016; Wilmington University. All rights reserved. File photo of both cross country teams at the CACC Championships, taken by Frank Stallworth.
HOPKINTON, N.H. - - Senior Ken Fontal narrowly missed an individual bid to race in the NCAA National Championship, leading the Wilmington University cross country teams at the 2016 NCAA Division II East Regional Championships on Saturday morning at the Hopkinton State Fairgrounds.
The men finished 11th out of 23 teams at the East Regional Championships while the women ran the late day race and finished 20th out of 28 teams. The men were the top finishers from the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference, however, as the women were the fourth conference school in the standings.
Looking to be either on one of the top three teams in the standings, or one of the top three individuals not on an advancing team, Fontal finished seventh overall, but the fifth runner not on an advancing team. He did earn All-Region honors for finishing in the Top-25, however.
Fontal (bottom left) was the first CACC runner to finish overall, running the 10K course in 31:59.2. With the way the race finished, he would have needed to be fifth overall, but was off the pace of Franklin Pierce's Aidan Gilbride's time of 31:50.1 by 9.1 seconds.
Korey Jeffries collected 64 points for the Wildcats with a 65th place finish, running the course in 34:01.6. Miguel Suero picked up 73 points with a 75th place finish, crossing the line in 34:36.4. Logan Brady added 100 points for the team with a 106th place finish, coming in at 35:53.7. Manuel rounded out the Wildcats scoring with 117 points, finishing 129th overall with a time of 37:03.0. Zach Panza closed out the Wildcats on the course with a 137th place finish, running the 10K in 37:24.7.
The Wildcats earned 361 points for the men's race. American International took home the Regional Championships with 49 points, having all five scorers earn All-Region, including the medalist honoree Leakey Kipkosgei who finished first with a time of 31:05.3. Stonehill earned 80 points for second while Bentley also advances to the National Championship with a third place finish and 98 points.
The women finished 20th overall with 536 points, led by sophomore Tori Vickers' 89 points. She finished in 92nd overall in the 6K race, crossing the line in 24:37.5. Rachel Jones was right behind Vickers, earning 91 points with a 94th place finish, running the course in 24:40.7.
Gabrielle Brown and Tara Langen finished back-to-back for the Wildcats, earning 112 and 113 points, respectively. Brown finished 115th overall with a time of 25:10.2 while Langan placed 116th overall with a time of 25:10.7. Joelle Prettyman was the final scorer for the Wildcats, earning 131 points with a 135th place finish with a time of 25:38.8.
Senior Christine Czajkowski and freshman Emily Kockott rounded out the Wildcats on the course on Saturday. Czajkowski placed 142nd overall with a time of 25:52.4 while Kockott finished 165th overall with a time of 26:47.0.
Stonehill won the event with 48 points while also having the medalist honoree in Nicole Borofski. She finished in 20:57.5 for the win, 26.3 seconds better than the second place finisher. Assumption (90 points) and Roberts Wesleyan (113 points) finished in second and third, respectively, and will represent the East Region at the NCAA National Championship.