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Hamel, Nekitopoulos Headline Owls All-Conference Selections

Shea Hamel, Mia McDonald, Ariann LeCours, Tealei Chandonnet, and Julianne Kelly earn placement on women's All-Conference team.
Shea Hamel, Mia McDonald, Ariann LeCours, Tealei Chandonnet, and Julianne Kelly earn placement on women's All-Conference team.
Posted: Nov 03, 2022

WESTFIELD, Mass. – The Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Co-Rookie of the Year Shea Hamel (Longmeadow, Mass.) along with six other Westfield State student-athletes from the men's and women's cross country teams were formally named to the 2022 MASCAC All-Conference Teams for their performances in the 2022 MASCAC championship meeting this past Saturday at Stanley Park in Westfield, Mass.

Individuals who placed within the top ten at their conference championship meet are recognized with All-Conference honors.

Men:

Juniors John Nekitopoulos (West Springfield, Mass.), and Brandon Hager (Agawam, Mass.) were selected for leading the Owls men's team to a second-place finish at the MASCAC Championships.

Nekitopoulos finished second individually, as he finished the eight-kilometer course in 26:50.35, while Hager finished third individually in 27:29.32.

Women:

Hamel, along with first-year students' Tealei Chandonnet (Dracut, Mass.), and Julianne Kelly (Natick, Mass.), graduate student Mia McDonald (Westfield, Mass.), and sophomore Ariann LeCours (Haverhill, Mass.) all earned the honors for finishing inside the top ten individually, and for leading the Owls women's team to their third-consecutive MASCAC championship.

Hamel crossed the line first for the Owls, as she took third place individually with a personal record of 19:28.87. McDonald took fourth place with a new PR of 19:32.78. LeCours took sixth individually with a new PR of 19:51.7, followed by Chandonnet finishing eighth, and Kelly tenth. The Owls received half of the all-conference nods for the entire league.

In her first year as head coach for the Owls men's and women's cross country teams, Coach Marlee Berg-Haryasz was selected as the 2022 BSN Sports Men's and Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year, for coaching her women's squad to a MASCAC Championship and the men's squad to a MASCAC Championship Runner-Up.

Westfield will next compete at the Northeast Regional Qualifying meet at St. Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y. on Saturday, November 12.