Final Results

HERSHEY, Pa. -- Grayson Reid captured his second straight individual title and the 25th-ranked Christopher Newport men's cross country team repeated as conference champions with a dominant performance at the Capital Athletic Conference title meet on Saturday afternoon at the Hershey Entertainment Complex.
 
During the meet, the Captains just missed out on a perfect score as CNU won the conference championship with 16 points. That total marked the lowest in the 26-year history of the CAC meet, beating the previous low of 21 set by Salisbury in 2010. Overall, Christopher Newport boasted the top-four finishers and had eight runners place in the top-10.
 
Following the Captains, York (Pa.) finished second with 53 points, while Salisbury followed in third with 86. Mary Washington (102) and Frostburg State (156) rounded out the top-five.
 
"We have made no secret of our goal to try to get a perfect score with the top-five finishers at the meet, and we came very close" said head coach Matthew Barreau. "We had a very bold race plan that the coaches felt gave us the best shot to accomplish that. There are some very good runners in this conference, and we knew it'd take a great effort to accomplish it."
 
Leading the way, Reid repeated as the conference champion after completing the 8k in 25:59. With that performance, he became the sixth runner in CAC history to capture multiple individual titles.
 
"I'm very proud of Grayson," said Barreau. "This was a terrific win for him today. Last year he waited until the last mile to make his move and was able to pull away. This year he went from the gun and really dominated. It's awesome to see him win in different ways. Once he finished, I was incredibly proud to see him immediately turn around and watch for his teammates. He accomplished his goal, and he wanted just as badly for the team to accomplish its goal and for each teammate to meet his own. He was clapping them all in."
 
Following Reid, Daniel Read placed second in 26:22.7, while Jeff Dover was seconds behind in third after crossing in 26:27. Meanwhile, JJ LaPointe rounded out the top-four with a 26:30 mark.
 
"Daniel and Jeff were real solid today," said Barreau. "Daniel has made huge improvements all year so this was a nice continuation of that. Jeff made a big jump today. He's a terrific runner and starting to gain the confidence that he belongs at the front, and today that showed. And JJ took a big chance today, and I'm proud of his moxie. It was a daring strategy to go out hard and know you'd end up in no man's land with the pack chasing you down. He handled it well, and he ended up fourth.
 
Along with the top-four, Sam Murch placed sixth in 26:33.7, and a pair of freshmen were close behind. Zachary Witt registered the top mark by a first-year runner after finishing seventh in 26:46.1, while Jason Putnam was less than a second behind. Andrew Benfer also earned a spot in the top-10 after capping off the leaders in 26:50.2.
 
"Our freshmen really stepped up today as well," said Barreau. "We actually had the first four freshmen in the race. Zack and Jason ran incredible races to be 7th and 8th. Zack really ran confidently for the first time this year, and I was very proud of his persistence throughout the year and where he put himself today. Jason has been steadily rising throughout the year, and this was not unexpected but still a great result. Cav McGaw has been running well all season but definitely took a step forward today and that was a fantastic 12th place finish. Danny Cretney also placing 22nd was great."
 
Saturday's efforts certainly give the Captains a head of steam entering the South / Southeast Regionals, which will take place on November 12 in Berry, Georgia.
 
"We had five men within about 30 seconds of each other and 10 men within a minute spread," said Barreau. "That is fantastic. This group is gaining a ton of confidence, and I'm very excited for what's left on the table for us to accomplish this fall."
 
---CNU---