Gulls sprint to the finish at Wesleyan Invitational

Sept. 27, 2008

MIDDLETOWN, Conn. - The Endicott College cross country teams ran to strong finishes at the Wesleyan Invitational held on Saturday by finishing fourth and seventh respectively. The women were led to a fourth place finish by senior Nicole Prokop (Montgomery, Mass.) while the men were paced to a seventh place finish by freshman Greg Payne (North Attleboro, Mass.).

For the women, Prokop finished the 5k race in 22:05 which was good for a 34th place finish out of the 95 runner field. Junior Megan McGraw (Georgia, Vt.) and freshman Brittaney Plante (Nashua, N.H.) were able to finish seconds behind Prokop for 36th and 37th place finishes. McGraw finished with a time of 22:11 and Plante crossed the finish line :02 seconds later with a time of 22:13.

Connecticut College was able to take home the team victory for the women with a point total of only 35 points. Bates College (41 points) and Wesleyan (54 points) rounded out the top three with Endicott finishing in fourth place with 135 points. Wesleyan runners Elizabeth Wheatley (Arlington, Mass.) and Ravenna Neville (Westfield, N.J.) finished first and second individually with times of 19:28 and 19:50 while Connecticut College's Caitrin Herdic (Champlain, N.Y.) finished third, posting a time of 19:54.

For the men, Greg Payne ran a strong race finishing with a time of 28:54 allowing him to place 30th out of 103 runners in the field. Brendan Mitchell (Chelmsford, Mass.) and Michael Macisso (Portland, Maine) were the next to Gulls to cross the line as they finished with times of 32:36 and 33:05, respectively. Junior Steve Bouchard (Saratoga, N.Y.) finished a mere :10 seconds behind Macisso for Endicott.

The men's team title went to host Wesleyan College with 43 points while Connecticut College finished just two points behind for another top three placing of the day. Bates College was able to round out the top three with 68 points while Endicott placed seventh with 196 points. Chris Mason took home the individual title for SUNY-Delhi with a time of 26:39 while two Camels, Shawn Mulcahy (Lebanon, Conn.) and Brian Murtagh (Rowley, Mass.), finished second and third with times of 26:48 and 26:49 respectively.

The Blue and Green return to the trails on Saturday when they travel to Henniker, New Hampshire for the Pilgrim Pride meet held on the campus of New England College. The women's meet will start at 9:15 a.m. while the men will take off at 10:00 a.m.

For complete women's race coverage click here

For complete men's race coverage click here