Meet Results

CANTON, NY (November 12, 2011) – Injuries and a strong field proved to be tough obstacles for the Vassar College men's cross country team to overcome on Saturday at the 8k NCAA Atlantic Regional Championship hosted by St. Lawrence University. The Brewers finished 13th out of 40 teams.

Vassar finished with 404 points in its 13th place finish. National power St. Lawrence won the region by placing three runners in the top ten and finished with 89 points. Geneseo finished second (95), followed by New York University (103), Cortland (112) and Rochester (148) in the top five.

“It was a tough day for our men's team,” said head coach James McCowan. “We did not have our best day. Two of our runners – senior Justin Rupert and junior Sam Wagner – both aggravated previous injuries. When two of the teams top runners are impacted in that fashion, it makes things more difficult. Sam rolled his ankle again and did not finish. Justin, who injured himself at the Liberty League meet, reinjured himself and that impacted his place in the race.”

Senior Will Healy was Vassar's top finisher, placing 45th out of 272 runners with a 26:31 time. “Will is clearly my hero today,” said McCowan. “He was very assertive, had a strong run and was on the cusp of earning All-Region honors."

The top 35 runners earn All-Region honors and Healy was eight seconds off an All-Region time.

Freshman Eliot Gerson closed out his rookie season as Vassar's second overall finisher and 55th in the race (26:42). He was the sixth fastest freshman in the region.  Junior Zach Williams was third for Vassar and 73rd overall (26:55), followed by fellow junior Roni Teich in 87th position (27:06).

“Zach did a good job getting out in front and put himself in a good place, but he had trouble holding on a fell back,” said McCowan. “Both Eliot and Roni had good races and have been very consistent and reliable performers throughout the season.”

Senior Evan Rusek was Vassar's fifth finisher (144th overall), with a 28:03 time. Rupert finished an unfortunate 145th overall (28:06).

“It's a shame we didn't have all the pieces together today,” said McCowan. “It's time to regroup and rebuild the team for next season. We graduate four of our top seven runners, so we have some work to do.”