DURHAM, N.H. – The Stony Brook women captured a sixth straight America East cross country championship this morning while the men raced to their first ever title. On a beautiful day at the University of New Hampshire, the Seawolves placed four runners in the women’s top 10 and two in the men’s top 10 en route to a title sweep.
In the men’s race, Stony Brook scored 61 points to take the crown. New Hampshire was the runner-up for the second time in the last four years, just seven points behind the Seawolves. The Wildcats placed two runners in the top 10 and another in the top 15. The top three was rounded out by UMBC, which placed five runners in the top 20. For the Retrievers, it was the best finish America East championship finish since 2005, when they won at Binghamton. Both UMBC and New Hampshire moved up five places in standings from last year’s championship.
Stony Brook sophomore Eric Speakman (Napier, New Zealand) won the 8k race with a time of 25:11.43, 11 seconds ahead of the pack. After finishing third at last year’s championship as a freshman, Speakman was out of the gate with the lead group and stayed there the entire way before bursting ahead in the final leg. Cory Sinotte (Manchester, N.H.) was the runner-up on his home course, cruising to a time of 25:22.17. He and Daniel DeCrescenzo (New Milford, Conn.), who finished sixth, led the way for the Wildcats. Rounding out the men’s top five were Maine’s Kelton Cullenberg (Chesterville, Maine), Albany’s Ethan Clary (Schuylerville, N.Y.) and Stony Brook’s Daniel Denis (Bayport, N.Y.).
The women’s race was also a close one, with Stony Brook edging out the host school by nine points, 37-46. The Seawolves sixth consecutive title puts them one short of tying Boston U. for the longest streak in America East women’s cross country history. Stony Brook was able to place four runners in the top 10, which was enough to put them past New Hampshire. The Wildcats boasted three top 10 runners, including the individual champion, senior Keely Mcguire (Georgetown, Mass.). Vermont finished in third on the women’s side with a score of 66, after finishing in fourth place a year ago.
Similar to the men’s race, a group of women got off to fast start and distanced themselves from the pack right away. Mcguire, who finished fourth at the 2011 championship, spent most of the race in first or second place. Just as Speakman did in the men’s run, Mcguire had a strong final kick as she won the 5k race by eleven seconds with a time of 16:33.48. The runner-up in the women’s race was Albany junior Brittney Lane (Greenwich, N.Y.), who raced to a 16:44.35 finish. The rest of the women’s top five included Vermont’s Kirsten Weberg (East Aurora, N.Y.) and a pair of Stony Brook harriers in Olivia Burne (Palmerston North, New Zealand) and Cleo Boyd (Kingston, Ontario).
Stony Brook received the both men's and women's Coaching Staff of the Year honors from the fellow coaches during the awards ceremony. The women’s award was the eighth straight for head coach Andy Ronan and his staff, while the men’s nod was the first for the Seawolves.
Next up for America East squads are the NCAA Regionals on Nov. 9 in Madsion, Conn. For full results, photos, highlights and more, visit Championship Central on AmericaEast.com.