Cross Country Places 14th at NCAA Regional

WESTFIELD, Mass. – The Wentworth Institute of Technology cross country team posted its best NCAA New England Regional finish in the three-year history of the program as the Leopards placed 14th out of 56 teams (439 points) in the event held at Stanley Park in Westfield, Mass.

The 14th-place finish for Wentworth is a five-place improvement from last season and the Leopards took 136 points off their score from last season. The Leopards' previous top finish was during their inaugural varsity season of 2014 when they finished 17th of 54 teams (574 points).

Wentworth had three runners place among the top 50, with junior Dan McSolla (Bridgewater, Mass.) leading the way. McSolla completed the eight-kilometer course in a time of 25:05.91 to finish 14th out of 384 runners. Junior Patrick Hopkins (Lansdale, Pa.) finished 33rd with a time of 25:26.18 while junior Alex Robbins (Mansfield, Mass.) was 45th among the field with a time of 25:38.78. McSolla and Hopkins earned all-region honors by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association after finishing among the top 35 runners.

Senior David Ouellette (Wells, Maine) placed 157th with a time of 27:30.12 and sophomore Josh Gangemi (Norton, Mass.) completed the scoring for the Leopards after placing 190th with a time of 27:59.93.

Sophomore Jonah Eisman (New York, N.Y.) was 207th with a time of 28:17.43 while junior Zach Howey (Sherwood, Ark.) was 272nd after crossing the line in a time of 29:16.66.

MIT and Williams tied for low score with team totals of 110; however MIT was declared the regional champion by virtue of the tiebreaking procedure. MIT's top three runners finished ahead of Williams' and took a 3-2 edge on top-five finishes. Both teams will automatically advance to the NCAA Division III National Championship next Saturday in Louisville, Ky. Tufts University senior Tim Nichols took home the individual title with a time of 23:54.8.