Cross Country Concludes 2019 Season with Run at 2019 NCAA East Regional Championship - Wilmington University

Copyright 2019; Wilmington University. All rights reserved. Photo by Dan Lauletta. October 27, 2019 at CACC Championships at Belmont Plateau.

Posted: Nov 09, 2019

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - - The Wilmington University men's cross country team was the top Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference at the 2019 NCAA East Regional Championship, finishing eighth overall with 266 points on Saturday afternoon on top of Belmont Plateau in Fairmount Park.

Individually the Wildcats were led by junior Michael Dowd in 38^th place while the women's team's lone runner Annabel Cortez placed 78^th overall.

The front of the Wildcats' team was led by a pack of three runners in the 10K event, as Dowd finished 38^th overall with a time of 33:25.9. Dowd was the second CACC individual to finish, only trialing Chestnut Hill and CACC Champion Ziggy Fisher who placed 28^th.

Only a few seconds behind Dowd was Brandon Cruz and Will Rehrig, who placed back-to-back in 40^th and 41^st, respectively. Cruz finished in 33:31.1 while Rehrig was right behind him with a time of 33:34.6.

Sophomore Garrett Checchi was the fourth to cross the finish line for the Wildcats, placing 60^th overall with a time of 34:12.0, earning the team 59 points. James Kennedy was the fifth and final place finisher for the Wildcats, coming in 89^th overall with a time of 35:28.7 for 88 points.

Shannon Dooley crossed the line in 109^th overall with a time of 36:37.2 while senior Jayven conclude his career with a 164^th place, finishing in 49:38.5.

Roberts Wesleyan won the Regional Championship with 55 points while American International came in second with 65 points. Stonehill will also advance to the National Championship by placing third overall with 82 points.

American International's Ezra Mutai was the top individual runner, winning the championship by nearly 43 seconds with a 10K time of 30:58.4.

On the women's side, Annabel Cortez ran the 6K course in 25:16.5 to finish 78^th overall for the Wildcats. Stonehill won the team championship with 26 points while Roberts Wesleyan came in second with 41 points. Southern New Hampshire closed out the top three with 130 team points.

Stonehill's Samantha Curtin won the race with a time of 22:19.1, beating the field of 162 by four seconds.