Though not as close to advancing as a year ago, the Franklin Pierce University men’s cross country team was the first non-advancing team for the third straight year at the NCAA Championship East Regional, hosted by Franklin Pierce at Hopkinton State Fairgrounds, also for the third straight year. With three teams advancing to the NCAA National Championship race, the Ravens finished fourth on Saturday, 38 points behind third-place Bentley. Instead, Franklin Pierce settled for two individuals qualifying for the national race, as senior Dage Minors and freshman Aidan Gilbride each earned All-Region honors, by placing fourth and fifth, respectively.
Minors and Gilbride advance to the National Championship, as the NCAA grants at-large individual berths to the three highest-placing individuals who are not a member of a team which has qualified for the event. Minors, with a 10k time of 31:47.5, and Gilbride, clocking in at 31:50.1, were the second and third such qualifiers, behind Southern New Hampshire senior Nacho Hernando in second, who advanced as an individual for the second straight year.
Unfortunately for the Ravens as a team, it was 22 spots from Gilbride back to the squad’s next finisher, as senior B.J. Smith finished 27th, by stopping the clock at 32:34.6. The remainder of the Franklin Pierce scoring came outside the top-40 at the 169-runner meet, as freshman Jeff Reddy ran a 33:16.2 to finish 46th, while junior Martin Gradijan turned in a 33:39.0 to place 54th.
It all added up to 136 points for Franklin Pierce, which was only 10 points off of last year’s team total, yet left the squad much farther back of the advancing schools than it did a year ago, when the Ravens missed qualifying for the National Championship by four points. On Saturday, American International (49 points) put three runners in the top 10 to capture the East Region title, while Stonehill (80 points) in second and Bentley (98 points) in third advanced to the national title race as well. Behind Franklin Pierce, Southern New Hampshire (141 points) rounded out the top-five in fifth.
Individually, AIC sophomore Leakey Kipkosgei (31:05.3) posted a 13-second victory over Hernando (31:18.7) in second. AIC junior Mitchell Byrne took third (31:37.6) in front of Minors, as the latter and Gilbride rounded out the top five.
The National Championship is set for Saturday, Nov. 19, and will be hosted by Saint Leo University in Saint Leo, Fla.