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Sam Haney won the 2012 ECAC Div. III Championship
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WILLIAMSTOWN - Senior Sam Haney (Essex, CT) kicked past two runners in the final 200 meters to win the ECAC Championship and lead the Jumbo men's cross country team to a fourth-place finish out of 43 teams at Williams on Saturday.
Many teams, including the Jumbos, rested their varsity runners in preparation for the Division III New England Championship next weekend. This gave the second seven runners the opportunity to carry the team and finish their season on a high note.
Amherst won the team title, placing three runners in the top five to accumulate 44 points. Bates and Williams rounded out the top three with 54 and 84 points respectively. The Jumbos' 88 points was good enough for fourth, well ahead of fifth-place Middlebury's total of 163.
The eight-kilometer course had dried out from Hurricane Sandy, allowing many runners to post solid times on the hilly, wooded terrain. Haney's time of 26:23 was the best in the field of 287 runners, as he out-paced Todd Ford, a freshman from Williams, by three seconds.
Sophomore Marshall Pagano (Niskayuna, NY) was next to finish for Tufts, clocking a time of 27:07 for 13th place overall. Junior Jamie Norton (Groton, MA) was only three seconds back in 16th.
Rounding out the scoring five for the Jumbos were first-year Michael Curley (Attleboro, MA) and sophomore Joseph St. Pierre (Manchester, NH). Curley placed 27th overall in a time of 27:33, while St. Pierre clocked a 27:41 for 31st place.
Sophomore Greg Hardy (Barnstable, MA) and senior co-captain Jeff Marvel (Naples, FL) rounded out the squad of seven. Hardy placed 35th in a time of 27:44, while Marvel crossed the line in 60th with a time of 28:18.
The fourth-place finish is certainly a solid way to end the season for the sub-varsity squad. They will look to carry the momentum into the indoor track season, which begins on December 1.
For head coach Ethan Barron's varsity runners, the post-season heats up next Saturday with the national-qualifying NCAA Regional Championship at Westfield State.
Race results
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