JAMESVILLE, N.Y. – The SUNY Polytechnic Institute men's cross country team claimed its third straight North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) Championship, which was hosted by Cazenovia College at Jamesville Beach State Park Saturday.  The Wildcats, who enter the season as the preseason favorites,  won with a team score of 64 points after having four runners finish in the top 13 of the 105-runner field.

The Wildcats were led by juniors John Hohl (Webster, N.Y.) and Joseph Acey (Forestport, N.Y.), who came in seventh and eighth, respectively, as well as sophomore Oliver Crain (Syracuse, N.Y.) and freshman Derek Smith (Rochester, N.Y.), who finished back-to-back as well after respectively finishing 12th and 13th.  Freshman Ian Kurzrock (Woodbourne, N.Y.) clinched the winning points for Poly after finishing in 24th place.  The title helped Wildcat head coach Bill Tylutki earn the NEAC Coach of the Year award for the third straight year and fourth time in his career.

Gallaudet University freshman Otto Kingstedt (Stockholm, Sweden) capped his tremendous debut season by winning the eight-kilometer race with a time of 26:32 en route to being named both the NEAC Runner of the Year and NEAC Rookie of the Year.  It was the fifth time Kingstedt was the individual champion at a race this season, which also helped him earn six NEAC Runner of the Week selections.

SUNY Cobleskill placed second overall for the third straight season, finishing just behind SUNY Poly with 65 points after top-10 finishes by sophomore Anthony Bouchard (Wantagh, N.Y.) and freshman Josh Foust (West Sand Creek, N.Y.).  Morrisville State College junior Byron Evans (Cazenovia, N.Y.) placed second individually while senior Anthony Ostuni (Liverpool, N.Y.) came in sixth and classmate Richard Terpening (Syracuse, N.Y.) was ninth to help the Mustangs place third overall with 90 points.  Gallaudet finished fourth with 103 points after Kingstedt's top finish along with a fifth-place outing by freshman Vicente Perez (Cicero, Ill.).  Penn State Abington senior and two-time NEAC Runner of the year Alex Kane (Doylestown, Pa.), who won last year's race, placed third as the Nittany Lions finished fifth overall with 104 points.     

Rounding out the 12-team field was: Penn State Berks (6th, 114 points); Lancaster Bible College (7th, 180 points); Wells College (8th, 234 points); Cazenovia College (9th, 247 points); Penn College (10th, 259 points); Keuka College (11th, 289 Points); and Bryn Athyn College (12th, 348 Points).

Click here for a PDF of the NEAC All-Conference First Team, Second Team and Third Team selections, which were determined based on finish times at the championship race, with the top-seven finishers making up the first team, followed by the 8th-14th finishers on the second team and the 15th-21st finishers on the third team. 

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The North Eastern Athletic Conference has fourteen NCAA Division III member institutions which include: Bryn Athyn College, Cazenovia College, College of St. Elizabeth, Gallaudet University, Keuka College, Lancaster Bible College, Pennsylvania College of Technology, Pennsylvania State University - Abington, Pennsylvania State University - Berks, SUNY Cobleskill, SUNY Institute of Technology, SUNY Morrisville State College, Wells College, and Wilson College.  Associate members are: Cedar Crest College (W Swimming), D'Youville College (M Volleyball), Hilbert College (M Lacrosse & M Volleyball), Medaille College (M&W Lacrosse & M Volleyball), Penn State Altoona (M Volleyball) and Rutgers University - Camden (M Golf).  The North Eastern Athletic Conference has partnered with the North Atlantic Conference in the sports of field hockey and men's and women's tennis.