NESCAC Cross Country All-Conference Teams Announced

NESCAC Cross Country All-Conference Teams Announced

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Amherst's Hussein and Lacy Earn Top Honors
HADLEY, Mass. – First-year Lizzie Lacy (San Mateo, Calif.) and sophomore Mohamed Hussein (Hargeisa, Somaliland) of Amherst were named the NESCAC Most Outstanding Performers following the 2015 NESCAC Cross Country Championships hosted by Wesleyan on Saturday. The annual honor is given to the individual who finishes first at the conference championship meet.

  • Lizzie Lacy is the first Amherst women’s harrier to win the NESCAC Championship since 2012 and the sixth Jeff overall after crossing the finish line with a time of 21:48.6. She is the third women’s runner to sweep Most Outstanding Performer and Rookie of the Year honors, joining Williams’ Caroline Cretti and Amherst’s Shauneen Garrahan, who accomplished the feat in 2002 and 2003, respectively. Lacy is the fifth Jeff to receive Rookie of the Year recognition overall after four different Amherst runners earned the award from 2003-06.
  • Williams captured its 12th overall NESCAC title behind the strength of three All-NESCAC First Team and three All-NESCAC Second Team honorees. Hannah Cole, Victoria Kingham and Lacey Serletti moved up to the All-NESCAC First Team after landing on the second team a year ago. Kingham was also named the 2014 NESCAC Rookie of the Year.
  • Tufts senior Audrey Gould added a third All-NESCAC First Team accolade to her resume after earning first-team recognition in 2012 and 2014 to go along with NESCAC Rookie of the Year honors in 2012.
  • Four other all-conference honorees from last season were repeat selections this year. Amherst junior Savanna Gornisiewicz and Middlebury senior Adrian Walsh were recognized on the Second Team after being first-team picks in 2014. Walsh was also a All-NESCAC First Team honoree in 2013. Senior Alanna McDonough of Colby and sophomore Emily Sundquist of Williams garnered All-NESCAC Second Team accolades for the second consecutive year.
  • Kristen Morwick of Tufts was voted as the NESCAC Women’s Cross Country of the Year by the conference coaches for the first time in her 16-year tenure. The Jumbos’ runner-up finish on Saturday included all five scorers finishing in the top 20, and was their best result at the NESCAC Championship since 2006.
  • After finishing 12th at last year's conference championship, Amherst’s Mohamed Hussein became the second Jeff men’s harrier to earn first place at the NESCAC Men’s Cross Country Championship when he crossed the finish line in 24:46.5. He joins Rob Mitchell, who won the race in 1998. Hussein is also the first sophomore to win the race since Hamilton’s Peter Kosgei in 2007.
  • Williams had three runners earn All-NESCAC First Team accolades and two runners receive All-NESCAC Second Team honors to help the Ephs capture their eighth title in ten years and 16th overall trophy.
  • Six of the seven runners listed on the All-NESCAC First Team were repeat honorees.
  • The Ephs had a pair of previous NESCAC Rookies of the Year earn first-team accolades in Bijan Mazaheri and Ben Decker. Mazaheri, who received the plaudit in 2012, placed second in this year’s race to earn first-team accolades in back-to-back seasons in addition to landing on the All-NESCAC Second Team in 2013. Decker, the 2014 NESCAC Rookie of the Year, was a second-team selection a year ago.
  • Tim Nichols of Tufts became a three-time All-NESCAC honoree after earning first-team recognition for the second consecutive year and second-team recognition in 2012. He was joined on the First Team by teammate Luke O’Connor, who was a second-team selection last season along with Amherst’s Dan Crowley.
  • Six of the seven harriers named to the All-NESCAC Second Team were first-time selections. Colby junior Silas Eastman was the only repeat all-conference selection on the All-NESCAC Second Team. Eastman was named to the All-NESCAC First Team in 2014.
  • Amherst first-year Tucker Meijer (Mountain View, Calif.) was the top first-year harrier at the championship to become the third Jeff to receive NESCAC Rookie of the Year. He joins Will Yochum and Tomas Morrissey, who won the award in 2004 and 2007, respectively. 
  • Brett Hull of Hamilton was selected as the NESCAC Men’s Cross Country of the Year by his peers for the first time in his career. Hull, who is in his 25th season at the helm, guided the Continentals to their best conference showing with a fourth-place finish since 1988 when the team won the conference title on its home course.

Men's All-Conference Teams

First Team All-NESCAC
Name Institution Year Hometown
Dan Crowley
 Amherst Sr. Ludlow, Mass.
Ben Decker
 Williams
 So. Yarmouth, Maine
Peter Hale Williams  Jr. Swampscott, Mass.
Mohamed Hussein Amherst So. Hargeisa, Somaliland
Bijan Mazaheri Williams Sr. Wellesley, Mass.
Tim Nichols Tufts Jr. North Lima, Ohio
Luke O'Connor Tufts Jr. Chicago, Ill.
       
Second Team All-NESCAC
Name Institution Year Hometown
Griffin Colaizzi Williams So. Alexandria, Va.
Silas Eastman Colby Jr. Chatham, N.H.
Todd Ford Williams Sr. Glenview, Ill.
Patrick Hoagland Trinity Sr. San Diego, Calif.
Sebastian Matt
 Middlebury
 Sr. New Albany, Ohio
Raymond Meijer Amherst Jr. Mountain View, Calif.
Allen Sumrall Bates Sr. Albuquerque, N.M.
Mohamed Hussein
Most Outstanding Performer
 Mohamed Hussein, Amherst
Tucker Meijer
Rookie of the Year
 Tucker Meijer, Amherst

Brett Hull
Coach of the Year
 Brett Hull, Hamilton


Women's All-Conference Teams

First Team All-NESCAC
Name Institution Year Hometown
Hannah Cole
 Williams Jr. Honeoye Falls, N.Y.
Kelly Fahey Tufts Jr. Winter Park, Fla.
Audrey Gould Tufts Sr. Pelham, Mass.
Victoria Kingham
 Williams
 So. New York, N.Y.
Lizzie Lacy Amherst Fy. San Mateo, Calif.
Abigail Nadler Middlebury Fy. Chicago, Ill.
Lacey Serletti
 Williams Sr. Wynnewood, Pa.
       
Second Team All-NESCAC
Name Institution Year Hometown
Ashley Curran Conn. College Jr. Franklin, Mass.
Rebecca Delacruz-Gunderson Williams So. Lake Forest Park, Wash.
Savanna Gornisiewicz
 Amherst Jr. Pompano Beach, Fla.
Anna Harleen Williams So. Ross, Calif.
Alanna McDonough
 Colby Sr. Andover, Mass.
Emily Sundquist Williams So. Salt Lake City, Utah
Adrian Walsh Middlebury Sr. Bozeman, Mont.
Lizzie Lacy
Most Outstanding Performer/
Rookie of the Year
 Lizzie Lacy, Amherst
Kristen Morwick
Coach of the Year
 Kristen Morwick, Tufts