Men's Cross Country | 10/30/2021 7:06:21 PM
GREENWICH, NY – Nazareth College won its second Empire 8 Cross Country title iin just under seven months, as the Golden Flyers earned victory at the 2021 Empire 8 Men’s Cross Country Championship at the Washington County Fairgrounds on Saturday, October 30. St. John Fisher senior Grant Stokoe won his second consecutive individual title, recording a time of 25:39.5 over the 8,000-meter course.
The Golden Flyers had four of the top nine finishers to win the team title with a score of 32 points, St. John Fisher finished right behind in second with 38 points, while Houghton placed third with 58 points. Alfred University finished fourth, while Hartwick University and Utica College finished in a tie for fifth with 158 points. Host Russell Sage College recorded 182 team points.
In what was nearly a mirror image of the E8 championship in April at Houghton, Stokoe and runner-up Nate Bowers of Nazareth College broke away from the field over the final 4,000-meters. Stokoe used a powerful kick over the final 1,000-meters to win by just under four seconds. Nazareth's Nate McNally finished in third overall with a time of 25:46.7, while St. John Fisher senior Andrew Ford, who finished third in 2019, placed fourth, while Dave Russo of Houghton was fifth.
St. John Fisher's Ethan Billings, the 2021 E8 Spring Rookie of the Meet was sixth overall in a time of 26:04.4, while Nazareth freshman Cade Eells was the top first-year finisher, recording a time of 26:13.5 to place seventh and round out the All-Empire 8 first team selections.
The All-Conference selections will be announced next week. Runners who finished first through seventh will be All-E8 first team selections, while runners who finished 8-14 are second team selections and the 15th-21st place finishers will be third team selections.
Runners will be action on November 13 at the NCAA Atlantic Region Championships at the Geneseo Warplane Museum in Geneseo, NY.
TEAM RESULTS
Nazareth – 32
St. John Fisher – 38
Houghton – 58
Alfred – 143
Hartwick – 158
Utica – 158
Russell Sage – 182
Empire 8 Runner of the Meet: Grant Stokoe, Sr., St. John Fisher
ABOUT THE EMPIRE 8 CONFERENCE
The members of the Empire 8 Conference are committed first and foremost to the pursuit of academic excellence and the league is regarded as an outstanding NCAA Division III conference. The membership has distinguished itself among its peer group for its quality institutions, spirited and sportsmanlike competition, outstanding services and highly ethical policies and practices. Its commitment to serve the educational needs of its student-athletes is the hallmark of the E8. For more on the Empire 8 visit
www.empire8.com.
EMPIRE 8 SOCIAL MEDIA
YouTube –
Facebook –
Twitter –
Instagram