October 27, 2007

TCNJ CAPTURES THE 2007 NJAC WOMEN'S AND MEN'S
CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS

LION WOMEN CAPTURE 13TH STRAIGHT CROWN; MEN EARN 14TH STRAIGHT TITLE

The College of New Jersey men’s and women’s cross country teams both captured the 2007 New Jersey Athletic Conference Championships held at Richard Stockton College on October 27. The TCNJ men’s team won their 14^th consecutive NJAC championship and 19^th league title overall. The TCNJ women’s team won its 13^th straight NJAC championship and 24^th league crown in the 27 years that the NJAC has sponsored women’s cross country as a league sport.

TCNJ junior Chris Guerriero repeated at the NJAC men’s individual champion with a winning time of 25:25.48 in the 8K race. Guerriero’s victory was the 12^th in a row by a TCNJ runner at the conference meet. The Lions placed six runners among the top ten finishers. Guerriero also repeated as the NJAC Men’s Cross Country Runner of the Year.  His teammate, freshman Tom Bocchino earned NJAC Men’s Cross Country Rookie of the Year honors with a third-place finish in 25:49.93. Rutgers University-Camden head coach Joe Puleo was named 2007 NJAC Men’s Cross Country Coach of the Year after leading the Scarlet Raptor men to a second place team finish in the championship meet.

TCNJ senior Angela Tecco won the women’s 6K race with a time of 23:48.94. The Lions had the top seven finishers in the race to post the lowest possible team score of 15 points. Tecco, an All-American in track & field who is competing in her first season of collegiate cross country, earned NJAC Women’s Cross Country Runner of the Year and Rookie of the Year honors with the race victory. She extended TCNJ’s streak of individual NJAC women’s champions to 12 consecutive years. Lions’ head coach Phil Jennings garnered 2007 NJAC Women’s Cross Country Coach of the Years after guiding both his women’s and men’s squads to conference championships.