WESTFIELD, Mass. – Five members of the Southern Vermont College men's cross country team concluded the 2012 season with a 43rd placing at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) New England Regional Championship at Westfield State University in Westfield, Mass. on Saturday.
Weather conditions suited the 8K race well with temperatures in the mid-50's, sun shining on the course and wind hardly being a factor for the runners to deal with. Middlebury College's squad was first out of the 50 placing teams, while Bowdoin College junior Cody Horowitz (Stow, Mass.) led the 351-runner field at 24:51.36.
All-New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) First Team member and freshman Joshua Ceasar (Bardstown, Ky.) crossed first for the Mountaineers with a time of 28:03.30 despite battling injury and illness over the last week. "Considering the circumstances," said head coach Maria Stuber, "this was a great race for him."
Sophomore captain and All-NECC Second Team member Victor Velazquez (Los Angeles, Calif.) ran a personal-best 30:07.15, taking 15 seconds off his previous best time which came earlier in the season at the Western New England Golden Bear Invitational. That bumps him up to 9th on the all-time SVC 8K list. He finished the Regional 58 places better than he did in the 2011 Championship.
Recovering from an injury, sophomore Hesbon Ogeka (Windom, Minn.) finished at 31:32.07, not far off of his personal-best time of 31:15.69. Freshman Cameron Curtiss (Milton, Vt.) took almost a minute off his personal-record, finishing at 33:06.35. Over the course of the season, Curtiss took nearly nine minutes off his times. Freshman Kenneth Poteat (Yonkers, N.Y.) rounded out the Mountaineer squad, coming in at 34:09.29.
It will be nice to have a break from competing now," said Stuber, "but I cannot wait to see what some of these young athletes will be able to do in 2013 after a full year of training at the college level."