Oct. 29, 2007

New Britain, CT - The Wagner men's cross country team took sixth place at the Northeast Conference (NEC) Championships while the women came in seventh. Seahawk top finishers Mouhamed Halwani (Staten Island, NY/Xaverian) and Brecken Drager (Loomis, CA/Del Oro) earn 2007 All-NEC awards while top freshman Derek Rammelkamp (Miller Place, NY/Miller Place) took home NEC Freshman of the Year honors.

Halwani came out of the gate putting the pedal to the medal, hoping to capture his first NEC title only to come 17 seconds short and placing fourth with a time of 26:27.0 in the 8K course. It was a battle to the finish with second and third place finishers Keith Bushey and Terence Moriarty, both of Quinnipaic, who clocked in only seconds ahead of Halwani. This performance brings Halwani his third All-NEC award in as many years.

Rammelkamp came out strong and proved to the conference why he deserved the NEC Freshman of the Year honors by posting a 19th place finish with a time of 27.21. He was the first rookie to cross the finish line, a mere .6 seconds ahead of Saint Francis (PA) rookie David Holiday.

Junior Brian Halling (Amherst, NH/Souhegan) showed that a day off at last weeks CCSU-Mini Meet is exactly what he needed as he boasted a time of 27:50 and a 37th place finish to be the third Seahawk to finish the race. Sophomore James Johnston (Middle Island, NY/Longwood) and Freshman Thomas Rammelkamp (Miller Place, NY/Miller Place) rounded out the scoring for Wagner with times of 28:26 and 28:33 in 48th and 53rd place respectively.

The women's side of things brought junior standout Drager a 10th place finish at 18:38 for the 5K course. This performance marks the second All-NEC award for Drager in three years.

Right behind Drager was senior Meaghan Robbins (Waymart, PA/Western Wayne) who boasted a 17th place finish with a time of 19:15. Junior Ashley Mallen (Staten Island, NY/St. John Villa) and sophomore Jenna Naglieri (Stony Point, NY/North Rockland) kept the Seahawks moving in 38th and 46th place with times of 20:22 and 20:30 while senior Samantha Snukis (St. Clair, PA/Nativity) rounded the pack out with a 53rd place finish at 20:55.

The Wagner men exceeded their NEC Pre-season ranking by one spot with their sixth place finish while the women came in seventh as predicted. The Quinnipiac Bobcats took both sides of the meet with outstanding performances on both the men's and women's side of the field.