BENNINGTON, Vt. – The New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) announced on Monday its first batch of weekly accolades for the 2016 fall seasons with Southern Vermont College junior Marc Brandmeyer (Bennington, Vt.) being named the Men's Cross Country Runner of the Week for the period ending September 4, 2016.

The laurel comes on the heel of the SVC men's cross country team winning its home Mountaineer Invitational on Saturday, a challenging 5000 meter race on the mountain-side course that was a good season-opening test for the participants.

Brandmeyer had a solid start to his 2016 campaign, finishing second on his home course during the Invitational. The SVC captain crossed the line of the 5k race with a time of 17:45, setting a split pace of 5:43 per mile. This is the third time in his career that Brandmeyer has been named the NECC Runner of the Week.

Southern Vermont swept the men's cross country awards as Mountaineer freshman Bailey Hamilton (Londonderry, N.H.) was selected as the NECC Rookie of the Week. He had a fantastic start to his collegiate career on Saturday, placing seventh overall and being the third runner for Southern Vermont to cross the line. He completed the tough, mountain-side 5k course with a time of 18:30 for a split of 5:58 per mile to help SVC win its meet for the second time in three years.

The Mountaineers are back in action this Saturday, heading up to the Castleton State Invitational for an 11 a.m. start.

– #LetsGoSVC –