Dage Minors and his Franklin Pierce University Men’s Cross Country teammates turned in a spectacular performance at the NCAA East Regional Cross Country Championship by placing second out of 28 teams with a score of 97 points.
By finishing among the top-three teams in the region, Minors and his teammates earned a spot in the 2013 NCAA Division II National Championship Race on November 23rd in Spokane, Wash.
The trip to the National Championship meet comes in just the program’s second season at the varsity level after being revived prior to the 2012 campaign. It marked the second-consecutive impressive performance for Franklin, who also placed second at the Northeast-10 Conference Championship two weeks ago in Manchester.
Three Franklin runners led the charge to advance to the Nationals and for their efforts received All-East Region honors.
Junior Antoine Gisore placed seventh out of 185 competitors in a time of 31:57.3, and was the highest finisher for Franklin. The All-East Region accolade was Gisore’s second major honor in two weeks, as he also picked up First-Team All-NE-10 accolades by finishing among the top-10 runners at the conference race.
Freshman B.J. Smith was the next Franklin runner to cross the finish line, as he placed 13th with a time of 32:23.7. The regional award was also his second in two weeks, as he too, was recognized by the NE-10 at the conference race by earning third-team accolades.
Sophomore Makopa Rugabirwa was the third Franklin Pierce runner to pick up East Region honors, as he finished 17th in a time of 32:31.3. Just like the previous two finishers, Rugabirwa was coming off a fantastic showing at the NE-10’s two weeks ago by picking up first-team honors.
The three regional awards marked the second-consecutive year at least one Franklin Pierce runner to earn All-East Region honors, as Colton Ham accomplished the feat last year as a rookie.
Freshman Minors finished in 28th-place honors in a time of 32:57.9, while sophomore Isaac Fithian was the fifth Franklin runner to count towards the vital team score, as he was 32nd in a time of 33:11.7.
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