Men's Cross Country Trio Takes Trinity Blanket Awards
Hartford, Conn., June 15, 2009 - The Trinity College men's cross country team, under the direction of 2008 New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Coach of the Year George Suitor (16th Season), closed the 2008 season with a best-ever, seventh-place finish in the NCAA Division III National Championship Meet at Hanover College in Indiana on Nov. 15. Senior co-captain Sam Moorhead (Dedham, Mass.) came in 16th place with Trinity's top time of the fall and his career-best time (24:48.38) and senior co-captain Hunter Norte (Ellington, Conn.) finished 24th at 24:52.68, as both took All-American honors for the Bantams. Trinity finished with 278 points in the meet, which was the team's third straight appearance in the NCAA Division III National Championships. In addition, the Trinity men finished second in the NESCAC Championships, third in the NCAA Division III New England Regional Championships, and eighth in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Championships.
Moorhead, Norte, and fellow senior Stephen Sullivan (Pepper Pike, Ohio) closed their careers, and all three received Trinity Blanket Awards for earning nine or more varsity letters during their respective collegiate cross country and track and field careers. Sam Moorhead posted a season-best, third-place finish in the Westfield State Invitational and earned All-New England (7th) and All-NESCAC (10th) honors this fall. He is a two-time All-NESCAC and All-New England performer. Norte's time at the NCAA Division III Nationals was the second-best of the season for the squad, and he added a first-place time of 16:21 (tied) over 5,000 meters to win the Trinity Invitational title. Norte placed third in both the NESCAC and New England Division III Championship meets, earning all-league and All-New England recognition. He was the NESCAC and the New England Division III Champion in 2006 and an All-NESCAC honoree as a freshman in 2005. Norte's career-best time was 24:40, and Sullivan ran a career-best time of 27:56.
Sophomore Brendan Powers (Middleton, Mass.) boasted the men's third-best top time of 25:21 (career-best) and had a season-best finish of fifth in the Trinity Invitational, while freshman Michael Burnstein (Brookline, Mass.) had a season-best performance of 25:33 in the Mass.-Dartmouth Invitational, tied for first in the Trinity Invitational at 16:21 (5,000 meters) and earned All-New England honors with a 13th-place time of 26:37.4 in the NCAA Regional Championship Meet. Sophomore Wesley Halstead (Woodbridge, Conn.) ran a season-best time of 25:42, classmate Blake Fisher (Naperville, Ill.) recorded a career-best 26:08, sophomore Steve Garner (Yarmouthport, Mass.) posted a career-best time of 26:40 and earned All-ECAC honors with a ninth-place time of 27:05, and sophomore Blake Fisher (Naperville, Ill.) added a career-best time of 26:16. Freshman Wilson McGrail (Wayland, Mass) earned a season-best time of 26:34, and fellow rookie Matthew Eremita (South Windsor, Conn.) posted a season-best time of 26:38.
