Hitchcock, Wright and Ithaca Coaching Staff Take Top MXC Honors
The Empire 8 Conference has honored Ithaca College senior Sawyer Hitchcock with Runner of the Year honors. Utica College freshman Tyler Wright was tabbed the Rookie of the Year and Ithaca College was selected the E8 Men’s Coaching Staff of the Year.
Hitchcock earns top runner of the year honors for the second straight season, marking the first time an E8 athlete has won the award more than once. He was one of two Empire 8 representatives at the 2015 NCAA National Championships, where he finished 64
th out of 278 with a time of 25:17.7. It marked the third time in his career competing in the championship. Hitchcock earned his NCAA bid by virtue of a seventh place finish (25:30) at the Division III Atlantic Regional meet. Prior to regionals and nationals, Hitchcock became the first runner in E8 men’s cross country history to win back-to-back individual titles at the Empire 8 championship. He finished the 8K course in a season-best time of 25:08.6. Hitchcock is the first athlete to earn Runner of the Year honors twice.
Wright was one of two rookies to finish in the top-10 at the conference championship, as he took ninth with a time of 26:01.5. He was the sixth freshman at the NCAA Regional meet, as he placed 53rd out of 288 runners with a time of 26:33 to lead Utica. His personal best time of 25:48.2 came at the NYSCTC Championship on Oct. 24 where he placed fifth overall. It was a school record at the time before teammate Kyle Cairns broke the mark at the E8 championship. Wright is the third Utica runner to earn Rookie honors, joining previous honorees Mitchell Boise (2007) and Morgan Payne (2010).
Head Coach Jim Nichols and the Bomber coaching staff earned the top-coaching award. Ithaca claimed its sixth straight conference title in October, marking its eighth title overall– 2003, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015. Ithaca had seven runners finish in the top-20 at the league meet with three earning first-team All-Empire 8 honorees and two who earned second-team recognition this season. The Bombers concluded their season with a fourth place finish out of 41 teams at the NCAA Regional Championship.
In addition to the top year-end awards, one member of each team was named that institution’s representative on the 2015 Men’s Cross Country Sportsman of the Year Team. Empire 8 emphasizes that "Competing with Honor and Integrity" is an essential component of a student-athlete’s experience in conjunction with an institution’s educational mission. These honorees have distinguished themselves and consistently exhibit the critical traits as outstanding sportsmen.
The first and second team all-conference teams were announced following the conclusion of the championship.
Empire 8 2015 Men’s Cross Country Awards
Player of the Year: Sawyer Hitchcock, Ithaca
Rookie of the Year: Tyler Wright, Utica
Coaching Staff of the Year: Ithaca College
First Team All-Conference
Name Yr. School
Alex Hall So Alfred
Tim Chappell So. Ithaca
Sawyer Hitchcock Sr. Ithaca
Sean Phillips Jr. Ithaca
Greg Arabagian So Stevens
Nick Zickgraf Jr. Stevens
Kyle Cairns Sr. Utica
Second Team All-Conference
Name Yr. School
Kyle Gallo So. Alfred
Jesse Capellaro Jr. Ithaca
Stephen Gomez Sr. Ithaca
Chuck Collins Fr St. John Fisher
James Felice So. St. John Fisher
Erik Winberg Jr Utica
Tyler Wright Fr. Utica
Sportsman of the Year
Name School
Kyle Gallo Alfred University
Zac Park Elmira College
Dan Gilbert Hartwick College
Charles Easttey Houghton College
Stephen Gomez Ithaca College
Jacob Cuyler Nazareth College
Chuck Collins St. John Fisher College
Zach Mckeehan Stevens Institute of Technology
Kyle Cairns Utica College
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