Junior Pat Fullerton led the Skyhawks for the
third-straight week with a fifth place finish to lead Stonehill to
the team title today.
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#12 Stonehill Wins USI Pre-National Invitational
Fullerton
leads closely packed Skyhawks with fifth-place
finish
Men's Results
EVANSVILLE, Ind. (September
26, 2009) - The Stonehill College men's cross country
team, ranked 12th in this week's U.S. Track & Field
and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division II poll,
placed first out of 11 teams at the University of Southern Indiana
Pre-National Cross Country Invitational today. The meet was run on
the course which will host the NCAA Division II men's and women's
cross country championships in November.
Stonehill won the 11-team event with
a 42 team score after placing all seven runners in the top 25 and
five in the top 15. 9th-rankeed University of Southern
Indiana came in second with a 69 team score, while # 24 Harding
University was third (98) and #5 Abilene Christian University
fourth (106). Harding sophomore Daniel Kirwa won the individual
title with a time of 24:35 over the 8K.
Junior Daniel Pilz was ten seconds behind Fullerton in
sixth overall.
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"I knew this was one of the
strongest teams we have had at Stonehill and the potential was
there," said head coach Karen Boen in her eighth year. "To see the
way it all came together today was every coach's dream. This should
be a good indication of what could come in the future."
Junior Pat Fullerton
(Bradford, Mass./Haverhill), a transfer from Division I
Iona College, led Stonehill as he crossed the finish line of the 8K
course in 25:24 for a fifth-place finish (out of 99 runners).
Fullerton has at least held a share of the lead for the Skyhawks in
each of their last three races, including a second-place finish at
the Trinity College Invitational two weeks ago.
"Pat was has been a great addition
to our team not only talent-wise but he fits into Stonehill like a
glove," said Boen. "He is a very low-maintenance student-athlete
and it seems like he has been on the team forever the way he has
fit right with the other guys."
Senior Josh Andrews took eighth overall.
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Junior co-captain Daniel
Pilz (Newington, Conn./Newington) followed right behind
Fullerton in sixth place with a time of 25:34. Senior Josh
Andrews (Chelmsford, Mass./Chelmsford) crossed the finish
line third for Stonehill and eighth overall in 25:53, and sophomore
Stephen Polito (Worcester, Mass./Doherty Memorial)
placed tenth (26:05). Junior Benjamin Rumery (Dayton,
Maine/Thornton Academy) finished in 26:20 for
13th place to round out the Skyhawks scoring runners.
All seven Stonehill runners posted
top 25 finishes on the day. Freshman Ethan Penney (Haverhill,
Mass./Haverhill) posted a time of 26:46.33 for 21st
overall, while classmate Todd Sather (Melville, N.Y./St. Anthony's)
finished 23rd in 26:50.70.
Stonehill is back in action
Saturday, October 10, when it participates in the New England
Championships at Franklin Park in Dorchester, Mass.
