WILMINGTON, DE - Felician College won its third consecutive Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) men's cross country championship today at Carousel Park in Wilmington, DE. The Golden Falcons distanced themselves from the field with 41 points, well ahead of Philadelphia (71) and Wilmington (75). The top-15 individual finishers were named to the All-CACC team.
The individual champion was Josh Vander Veen of Philadelphia, who finished the 8,000-meter course in a time of 27:53.69. For his efforts, Vander Veen was named the CACC Runner of the Year. Joe Debus, a freshman from Wilmington, earned Rookie of the Year accolades after finishing second overall with a 28:11.05 clocking.
Felician placed three runners in the top-10 and all five of their scorers in the top-20. Junior Mike Burghoffer led the way by placing fifth in a time of 28:37.86, while junior Paul Chegwidden was close behind in sixth place in 28:40.66. Junior Alex Wright was ninth after completing the course in 28:56.70.
The Rams had one other runner earn All-CACC accolades in addition to Vander Veen, as senior Ryan Meyer finished 10th in a time of 29:11.24.
Wilmington ended up with three All-CACC performers and all three are freshman. In addition to Rookie of the Year, Debus, Dan Segars placed 12th in 29:27.52 and Scott Higgins crossed in 29:46.68 to place 14th.
At the conclusion of the meet, John Brennan of Felician was named CACC Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season, and USP was given the annual Team Sportsmanship Award. The head coaches conducted the voting.
TEAM STANDINGS
1. Felician 5 6 9 11 17 -- 48
2. Philadelphia 1 10 18 20 22 -- 71
3. Wilmington 2 12 14 23 24 -- 75
4. Nyack 7 15 19 37 41 -- 119
5. Goldey-Beacom 16 25 27 29 32 -- 129
6. Bloomfield 3 13 31 43 48 -- 138
7. USP 4 8 39 49 50 -- 150
8. Holy Family 26 30 36 44 52 -- 188
9. Post 21 46 54 55 56 -- 232
10. Dominican 43 53 55 58 61 -- 270
2006 ALL-CACC TEAM
1. Josh Vander Veen, Sr., Philadelphia 27:53.69
2. Joe Debus, Fr., Wilmington 28:11.05
3. Walter Tum, Jr., Bloomfield 28:21.31
4. Nick Willey, So., USP 28:34.97
5. Mike Burghoffer, Jr., Felician 28:37.86
6. Paul Chegwidden, Jr., Felician 28:40.66
7. Nate Thompson, So., Nyack 28:51.30
8. Matt Willard, Fr., USP 28:54.38
9. Alex Wright, Jr., Felician 28:56.70
10. Ryan Meyer, Sr., Philadelphia 29:11.24
11. Brad Schepise, Fr., Felician 29:17.03
12. Dan Segars, Fr., Wilmington 29:27.52
13. Lawi Laktabai, Sr., Bloomfield 29:44.46
14. Scott Higgins, Fr., Wilmington 29:46.68
15. Peter Marino, Jr., Nyack 29:50.73
RUNNER OF THE YEAR
Josh Vander Veen, Sr., Philadelphia
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Joe Debus, Fr., Wilmington
COACH OF THE YEAR
John Brennan, Felician
TEAM SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD
USP