WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State juniors John Nekitopoulos (West Springfield, Mass.) and Brandon Hager (Agawam, Mass.) placed second and third individually as the Owls finished as the runner-up at the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship meet from Stanley Park in Westfield, Mass. on Saturday.
The Owls were narrowly edged by Bridgewater State as the Bears claimed the MASCAC Championship team title by collecting 42 points to Westfield's 46. Westfield was selected fourth in the original preseason poll, delivering a strong performance across the board with the Owls placing seven runners in the top 20.
Nekitopoulos recorded a time of 26:50.35 and Hager followed at 27:29.32. Both Nekitopoulos and Hager earned MASCAC All-Conference honors for placing top ten in the event. Nekitopoulos was running stride-for-stride through the first two laps of the upper meadows with individual champion Taban Manyok (Lynn, Mass.) from Fitchburg State, but the Falcons sophomore eventually pulled away, winning the individual title by 36 seconds.
The Westfield trio of Mike Maher (Attleboro, Mass.), Will Buckley (Plymouth, Mass.), and Dan Botte (Norfolk, Mass.) crossed the line within 17 seconds of one another, with Maher earning a 12th place finish at a mark of 28:09.99. Buckley (28:14.38) and Botte (28:26.68) placed 14th and 15th overall.
Fitchburg finished third with a total of 74 points followed by Worcester State (92), Framingham State (127), Mass. Maritime (188), then MCLA (193) rounding off the field.
Westfield State will take next weekend off from competition before closing out the regular season with the Northeast Regional Qualifying meet at St. Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y.