WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- Paced by senior Avery Bouchard (Fall River, MA), the Bridgewater State College men's cross country team finished 22nd among the 49 teams competing at the 2008 NCAA Division III New England Regional Championship on Saturday in Williamstown.
Bouchard crossed the finish line in 17th place after completing the 8,000-meter course in a time of 26:40.0. Pending the selection of at-large teams for next weekend's NCAA Division III National Championship, Bouchard has a chance of qualifying for the event as an individual. The top seven individuals not on qualifying teams will go to the championship as individual qualifiers. The NCAA will announce the field of 32 teams and 56 individuals on Sunday afternoon.
Sophomore Ryan D'Arcangelo (Norfolk, MA) was the second BSC runner across the line in 93rd place with a time of 28:19.2. Senior Brian Stewart (Scituate, MA) and freshman David Granato (Upton, MA) rounded out the top four Bridgewater harriers as they finished 154th and 163rd respectively. Stewart posted a time of 29:27.7 while Granato was close behind with a time of 29:35.4.
Perennial powerhouse Williams College, the host institution, placed five runners in the top 15 to easily win the team title with 36 points. Amherst College was a distant second with 122 points. Williams and Amherst earned the two team automatic qualifying spots for next week's national championship race.
Trinity College was third with 143 points, Brandeis University was fourth with 158 and Bowdoin College rounded out the top five with 204 points. All three will be under consideration for an at-large team berth. Bridgewater State finished with 656 points.
For the second straight year, Edgar Kosgey of Williams was the individual winner. Kosgey, a junior, had a winning time of 25:52.7.