Men's Cross Country Set To Make Run At 2006 NCAA Division II National Title Saturday Afternoon In Sunshine State
November 17, 2006
Both nationally-ranked Stonehill College cross country squads are set to make runs at their respective NCAA Division II titles on Saturday morning, as both Skyhawk teams will compete for their national championships as part of the 2006 NCAA Division II Fall Sports Festival taking place in Pensacola, Fla.
Head Coach Karen Boen's men's squad, ranked 11th nationally in Division II, will make its fourth straight appearance in the NCAA national championship race that is set to take place at the Escambia County Equestrian Center beginning at 10:00 a.m. EST (9:00 a.m. CST), while the 20th-ranked Skyhawk women, fresh off of claiming their sixth Northeast-10 Conference and NCAA Northeast Regional titles in the last seven seasons, will compete in their NCAA national championship race beginning at 11:15 a.m. EST (10:15 a.m. CST), also at the Escambia Country Equestrian Center.
After capturing both the conference and regional crowns for the first time in 2000, the Stonehill women have become a fixture at the NCAA national championships, as the Skyhawks have finished as high as 10th nationally (2003) while adding a pair of top 15 finishes along the way. Senior co-captains Dana DeIngenis (Cranston, R.I./St. Mary's-Bay View Academy) and Kelly Chaisson (Walpole, Mass./Bishop Feehan) lead this year's Stonehill squad, as the duo each finished in the top four at both the Northeast-10 and NCAA Northeast Regional championships. Chaisson is a four-time all-conference and all-regional performer for Boen's crew, while DeIngenis, who last spring became the College's first female track outdoor All-America, is a four-time all-Northeast-10 selection and a three-time all-regional performer.
Senior Jill Allen (Peabody, Mass./Peabody Memorial), junior Lesley Clunie (Newburyport, Mass./Governor Dummer) and sophomore Jackie Oates (South Easton, Mass./Oliver Ames) also earned all-NCAA Northeast Regional recognition for Stonehill back on November 15th in posting top 15 finishes each, while freshman Andrea Topalis (Simsbury, Conn./Simsbury) and sophomore Jenny Gardynski (Everett, Mass./Everett) round out the Skyhawk contingent heading to Pensacola for competition.
The Stonehill men's squad finished as runner-up at both the Northeast-10 and NCAA Northeast Regional championships this fall after winning back-to-back conference crowns in 2004 and 2005 as well as taking home the Northeast Regional title last fall. The junior trio of Keith Gill (Brockton, Mass./Brockton), David Metzger (Ellington, Conn./Ellington) and Joe Ryan (Chelmsford, Mass./Chelmsford) have been solid once again for Boen this fall, as Gill (Stonehill's first male outdoor track All-America) and Metzger earned first team all-conference and all-regional recognition while Ryan added an all-New England selection to both of those accolades as well. Metzger is bidding to become the first two-time All-America performer in school history after earning the honor at the 2005 national championships in Chino, Calif., as he placed 24th individually to become the third All-America men's runner in Stonehill history.
Senior Tim Catoggio (Bradford, Mass./Haverhill) continues to be a consistent performer for the Skyhawks in posting a top nine finish at the NCAA Northeast Regionals while adding another all-conference honor to his resume, and additional depth in the Stonehill lineup comes from freshman Josh Andrews (Chelmsford, Mass./Chelmsford), sophomore Matt Meagher (Mansfield, Mass./Mansfield) and junior Khalid Abdi (Brockton, Mass./Brockton), who is a two-time all-conference and all-regional performer.
Complete results from the 2006 NCAA Division II Men's & Women's Cross Country Championships will be available on Saturday afternoon by logging-on to www.stonehillskyhawks.com or www.ncaachampionships.com.
