Champions Cemented
The season finale answered all the questions that were remaining after Atlantic City; mainly who our overall champions were going to be. The only completely safe position was Boston University as the overall women’s team champions. So how did the race shake out?
On the female side Army ran away with the victory at Westchester with two of the top three finishers. (2. Catherine Sedy and 3. Angelica Dickson) The 100 omnium points earned were enough to vault Army into second overall in the female team standings, but still 5 points short of Boston University. UVM was locked into either the second or third place overall female team and by the end of the day rounded out the top three in third. Riley Lantz (UVM) continued her amazing season finishing in 7th overall, and ended the season in 4th.
Bria Edwards (PSU) finished first overall for the individual female omnium with her third victory of the season. (Lake George, Atlantic City, Westchester.) Edwards had one of the more dominating seasons in recent history and finished with the full allocation of 350 points. Angelica Dickson (Army) finished Westchester in third overall scoring 96 points, which cemented her as the second female in the NECTC this year with a total of 341 points. A tight race for the third female this season came down to the wire between Riley Lantz (UVM) and Taylor Fogg (Columbia). Fogg was able to edge Lantz by just two points; 336 to 334. The Boston University women had the most individuals near the top with Ellen Witkowski (6), Stephanie Lie (7), Tess Timmes (8), and Natalie Tukan (11). The top 10 rounds out with Kristin Goett (PSU) in 7th, and Hayden Hughes (USCGA) in 10th.
On the male side Army was able to win all three races they competed in. (Lake George, Atlantic City, and Westchester), therefore earning the full 350 points and finishing the season as male team champions. Jason West (PSU) won each of those three races and was able to lead his team to a second place overall finish with 315 points. And Karmin Mabrouk (UCONN) finished the season in third overall and was able to bring his team to a third place overall finish.
Between Jason West (PSU) in first and Karmin Mabrouk (UCONN) in third, Boston University’s Nicholas Wendal was able to carve out a place for himself in second place. Wendal’s season was highlighted by an overall victory at Lobsterman, the week before a solid performance in Atlantic City. Bradley Bachand (Army), Brian Melly (UCONN) and Matthew Martino (PSU) were all season top 10 finishers that contributed to their team’s top 3 overall finish. Other top 10 finishes include Matt Ampleman (Yale) in 4th, Steven Vitabile (Rutgers) in 5th, Andrew Keenan (Drexel) in 7th, and James Petersen (Bentley) in 10th.
Next for the NECTC is Nationals qualification and placement. Based on the final season standings, athletes and teams will be allocated draft legal spots, and wave 1 allocation spots in the Olympic Distance championship. The conference is also working on obtaining conference-wide sponsorships, developing an executive board, and planning races throughout the winter season. Stay tuned for more conference updates and follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/nectc
Male Team Overall
1. Army
2. Penn State
3. Uconn
Female Team Overall
1. Boston University
2. Army
3. UVM
Male Individual Overall
1. Jason West (PSU)
2. Nick Wendal (BU)
3. Karim Mabrouk (UCONN)
Female Individual Overall
1. Bria Edwards (PSU)
2. Angelica Dickson (ARMY)
3. Taylor Fogg (COLUMBIA)
Authored By: James Petersen (Bentley)