Men's Cross Country Set for NECs

The Central Connecticut men's cross country team is set to compete at the Northeast Conference Championships on Saturday.  The Blue Devils are the two-time defending NEC Champions and were the preseason favorite heading into this season.  Central returns four All-NEC runners from last year's squad.  The 2011 NEC Cross Country Championships will be hosted by Monmouth at Holmdel Park in Holmdel, NJ.

Senior Sam Alexander and junior Criag Hunt finished second and third at the NEC meet last season.  Alexander and Hunt trailed only teammate Ry Sanderson at that meet.  Both have had strong starts to the 2011 season.  Alexander earned NEC Athlete of the Week honors in October and Hunt has earned the nod twice this season including the  week in which he won the Monmouth Invitational which was held at Holmdel Park.

Senior Jeremy Schmid and junior John Krell also earned All-NEC honors in 2010.  Schmid finished 10th at the NEC meet and Krell took 14th.  Both Schmid and Krell have been gearing up in recent weeks, at the CCSU Mini-Meet last Friday they finished sixth and seventh, respectively.

Also, joining the Blue Devils in the field will be freshman Andy Pullaro and senior Anthony Gonsalves.  Both are having strong seasons, Pullaro earned NEC Rookie of the Week honors on Tuesday for his performance at the Mini-Meet.

Complete NEC Cross Country Preview

The men's 8K race will begin at 10 a.m. tomorrow.