Alec Connelly Connelly earns trip to nationals

CANTON, N.Y. (Nov. 12, 2011) – The collegiate cross country season came to a close for most runners here Saturday at the NCAA Division III Atlantic Regionals, but Rutgers University-Camden junior co-captain Alec Connelly (Cherry Hill, NJ/Paul VI) isn’t your ordinary runner.

Connelly finished 15th out of 272 runners at the Atlantic Regionals to earn a trip to the NCAA Div. III Cross Country Championships, which will be held Nov. 19 at the Lake Breeze Golf Club in Winneconne, Wisconsin.

Connelly posted an 8K time of 25:50.2, shaving over 30 seconds off of his previous best Rutgers-Camden time of 26:20.83 accomplishedJason Kendall while earning All-New Jersey Athletic Conference First Team honors at the NJAC meet Oct. 29. His time was the sixth-best certified 8K time in the history of the Rutgers-Camden cross country program, behind five times by Travis Stewart.

Connelly becomes the fourth Rutgers-Camden runner to qualify for the NCAA Cross Country Championships in five seasons. Stewart reached back-to-back national meets in 2007 and 2008, earning All-America honors the second time around. Last season, Robin England became the first Rutgers-Camden woman to reach the NCAA Championships.

The Atlantic Regionals, held at St. Lawrence University, saw the host school capture the men’s title with 89 points in a field of 40 teams. The Rutgers-Camden men finished 20th with 569 points. Adam Biner

The individual champion was Lee Berube of Geneseo, who clocked an 8K time of 24:41.3.

St. Lawrence also won the women’s race with 77 points in a 36-team field. The individual winner was Stefanie Braun of Plattsburgh, who posted a 6K time of 21:52.1.

Rutgers-Camden only ran two runners in the women’s race.

Geneseo finished second in both the men’s (95 points) and women’s (91) races.
Gabriella Schwalbe
In addition to Connelly, Rutgers-Camden senior Jason Kendall (West Collingswood Heights, NJ/Haddon Township) finished 99th overall (27:22.3), while senior Adam Biner (Fanwood, NJ/Scotch Plains-Fanwood) was 126th (27:42.4).

Junior Chris Kelly (Washington Township, NJ/Washington Township) placed 152nd (28:14.1), followed by freshman Ryan Bobb (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee), who was 185th (28:45.5).

Senior co-captain Scott McCarthy (Cherry Hill, NJ/Camden Catholic) finished 195th overall (29:02.0), while sophomore Joe Meehan (Mullica Hill, NJ/Kingsway Regional) completed the Raptors’ team by finishing 234th (30:00.3).

On the women’s side, the lone Lady Raptors to compete in the 256-runner field were sophomore Gabriella Schwalbe (Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill East) and senior Marisa Dietrich (Metuchen, NJ/Metuchen). Schwalbe posted a time of 29:00.2 to finish 236th, while Dietrich finished 256th with a 43:27.8 clocking.

National qualifiers

 

Sat. 12   at NCAA Division III Atlantic Regional Cross Country Championships                           
                (at St. Lawrence University, Canton, NY)

MEN (8K): 1. St. Lawrence,  89; 2. Geneseo, 95; 3. NYU, 103; 4. Cortland, 112; 5. Rochester, 148; 6. RPI, 193; 7. (tie) Rowan and TCNJ, 219; 9. Plattsburgh, 222; 10. (tie) Fredonia and Ithaca, 357; 12. Oneonta, 397; 13. Vassar, 404; 14. Oswego, 424; 15. RIT, 430; 16. Clarkson, 445; 17. Brockport, 467; 18. Hamilton, 518; 19. Stevens Institute, 542; 20. Rutgers-Camden, 569; 21. Richard Stockton, 634; 22. Ramapo, 643; 23. Utica, 695; 24. Buffalo State, 704; 25. New Paltz, 723; 26. St. Joseph’s-Patchogue, 756; 27. St. John Fisher, 789; 28. USMMA, 823; 29. Drew, 861; 30. Hartwick, 862; 31. Farmingdale, 874; 32. SUNY-IT, 876; 33. Union, 903; 34. Hunter, 940; 35. Maritime, 1,037; 36. Hobart, 1,059; 37. Rutgers-Newark, 1,116; 38. Manhattanville, 1,165; 39. Sage, 1,210; 40. Potsdam, 1,298.

Leading runner: Lee Berube (Geneseo), 24:41.3
Rutgers-Camden leader: Alec Connelly, 25:50.2

 

WOMEN (6K): 1. St. Lawrence, 77; 2. Geneseo, 91; 3. Plattsburgh, 99; 4. Rowan, 113; 5. NYU, 168; 6. Vassar, 201; 7. TCNJ, 202; 8. Cortland, 209; 9. Oneonta, 244; 10. Ithaca, 312; 11. RPI, 363; 12. New Paltz, 369; 13. Rochester, 392; 14. RIT, 422; 15. Hamilton, 466; 16. Ramapo, 477; 17. Brockport, 513; 18. St. Joseph’s-Patchogue, 521; 19. William Smith, 560; 20. Fredonia, 588; 21. Richard Stockton, 606; 22. Nazareth, 649; 223. Buffalo State, 704; 24. Oswego, 725; 25. Union, 728; 26. Utica, 763; 27. Clarkson, 777; 28. Hunter, 782; 29. Mount Saint Mary, 814; 30. Stevens Institute, 826; 31. St. John Fisher, 876; 32. Hartwick, 977; 33. Manhattanville, 1,008; 34. USMMA, 1,011; 35. Farmingdale, 1,053; 36. Potsdam, 1,116.
Rutgers-Camden incomplete team.

Leading runner: Stefanie Braun (Plattsburgh), 21:52.1
Rutgers-Camden leader: Gabriella Schwalbe, 29:00.2