Northeast Conference (NEC) Release
Somerset, NJ - Defending champion Central Connecticut State jumped seven spots from last season's preseason poll to win its first ever Northeast Conference (NEC) title in 2009 and break Quinnipiac's three-year run with the crown. This year the league's head coaches, who gave the Blue Devils ten first place votes, won't be surprised if the harriers from CCSU bring home a victory for the second year running.
Tabbed to finish second was St. Francis (PA), which collected the other two first-place votes, while Sacred Heart fell in step at third place. Quinnipiac was slated to finish fourth, followed by Monmouth and Wagner in the thick of the pack at fifth and sixth. The predicted order of finished continued with Mount St. Mary's capturing the seventh spot, with Long Island in eighth and Robert Morris in ninth. Rounding out the field of 12 were Bryant, Saint Francis (NY) and Farleigh Dickinson.
Wagner, which is coming off a school-record fifth-place finish a year ago, returns a pair of top-20 performers for 15th year head coach
Joe Stasi in two-time All-NEC selection junior
Zachary Spector (Yaphank, NY/Longwood) and classmate
Thomas Iannacone (Havertown, PA / St. Joe's Prep).
Spector earned All-conference honors after placing eighth at the conference event with a time of 26:44 before running a phonominal 33:09 time at the 10K NCAA Regional Championships, posting the second-best time by a NEC runner. The two-time NEC Athlete of the Week also experienced early season success, taking third at the Monmouth Quad and fourth at the Fairfield Invitational.
Iannacone is another strong runner who was timed in 27:19 to claim 17th place at the NEC meet, just missing out on the 14-person All-NEC team.
The Seahawks also welcome back two other scorers from last year's meet in sohpomore
Matt Driscoll (Lewiston, ME / Lewiston) and senior
Thomas Rammelkamp (Miller Place, NY / Miller Place) while classmate and 2007 NEC Newcomer of the Year
Derek Rammelkamp (Miller Place, NY / Miller Place) returns to the fold after missing last year due to injury.
The Green & White will kick off the year at the Monmouth Quad on Saturday, September 4.
