Westfield, Mass. – Westfield State first-year runner Will Buckley (Plymouth, Mass.) finished in fifth place individually as the Owls as a team placed fourth on a rainy Saturday afternoon at the MASCAC Championship race at Willard Park in Devens, Mass.
Buckley and senior Michael Maher (Attleboro, Mass.) earned MASCAC all-conference honors by placing inside the top ten. Buckley crossed the line first for the Owls with a time of 27:19. Maher placed tenth, running a time of 28:04. The Owls had a quartet of runners finish in succession of one another as Anthony Distauro (Milford, Mass.), Jarrod Ledvina (Fairhaven, Mass.), Dan Botte (Norfolk, Mass.), and Brandon Pelkey (Pittsfield, Mass.) finished from 20th to 23rd place.
Westfield State head coach Bill Devine was selected the MASCAC Coach of the Year. Devine has coached the Owls men's and women's cross country teams for fifteen seasons.
Worcester State (49 points) claimed the MASCAC Championship earning the title for the first time in school history. The Lancers were followed by Fitchburg State (53 points) and Bridgewater State (71 points).
Fitchburg sophomore Taban Manyok (Lynn, Mass.) was the individual champion, posting a time of 26:08 as he edged out a pair of Worcester runners Patrick Carleton (26:11) and Andrew Fottler (26:25). Monyok was this season's MASCAC runner of the year and rookie of the year.