BOSTON – Returning four of its top five and six runners in all from a team which placed second by a point in last year's Little East Conference Championships, the Eastern Connecticut State University  men's cross country team felt confident heading into the 2022 season.
 
Friday's performance in the season-opening Suffolk University Short Course  Classic at Franklin Park only bolstered that belief as the Warriors were the first Division III team behind four Division I squads in placing fifth overall in a 15-team field over the historic 5,000 meter layout.
 
In addition to their returnees, Eastern features three transfer runners – two from the Division II level – under first-year head coach David Nicholson.
 
Friday, Eastern placed all five its scoring runners among the top 37 scorers to lead a pack of ten Division III teams in the meet, which was won in a shutout by Northeastern University.
 
Returning all but top runner Maggie Santacroce and featuring two Top 5 sophomore runners and a Top 5 first-year runner this year, the Eastern women checked in with a solid 9^th-place showing among 15 institutions. The women also placed second a year ago by a point in the LEC Championships.
 
Like its male counterparts, Northeastern  eased to the team title in the women's competition, falling one place shy of a sweep.
 
Balance keys men's success
 
Led by sophomore Noah Linton (Tolland), the five scoring runners crossed the line just 34 seconds apart. Four returnees were joined by Division II junior transfer Michael Parzych (Berlin) among the Top 5. Linton scored 21 points, with two-time All-LEC senior Ryan Escoda (Newtown) 24, junior co-captain Thomas Stone (Glastonbury) 26, senior Jorich Swift (Mansfield) 35 and Parzych 37. Linton was timed in 16:35 and Parzych in 17:09.
 
Rounding out Eastern's Top 7 were Division II junior transfer Dylan McGuire (Preston) and senior co-captain Tyler Wright. McGuire placed 57^th overall and Wright 64^th.
 
Pack running aids women
 
Running in two packs, the women were led over the 3,000 meter layout by four-year senior athlete Kelsey Zator (Scotland), who led the team twice a year ago and later ran mostly in front with Santacroce.
 
Zator scored 44 points and was timed in 12:41, with sophomore Alison LeClerc (Wolcott) and first-year runner Meghan Georgescu (Cheshire) finishing less than two second apart at 46-47 in times of 12:53 and 12:55.
 
Eastern's second pack followed 30 seconds behind, with sophomore Iris Bazinet (Pomfret), senior Keara Fontaine (North Kingstown, RI) and senior co-captain Elisabeth Rodil (Milford, NH) placing within three seconds of each other and crossing at 57^th, 58^th and 59^th overall.
 
Eastern competes at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Invitational Sept. 17 at 11:15 a.m. 1 Northeastern 15; 2. Brown U. 56; 3. Boston U. 72; 4. College of the Holy Cross 117; 5. EASTERN CONN. 143; 6. Suffolk U. 160; 7. Roger Williams U. 218; 8. Bentley U. 242; 9. Nichols College 269; 10. U. of New England 299; 11. Husson U. 310; 12. Wentworth Inst. of Tech. 320; 13. Worcester State U. 406; 14. Lesley U. 464; 15. Emmanuel College 487.
   
26 (21) Noah Linton 16:35; 31 (24) Ryan Escoda 16:49; 33 (26) Thomas Stone 16:49; 43 (35) Jorich Swift 17:07; 45 (37) Michael Parzych 17:09; 57 (47) Dylan McGuire 17:29; 64 (54) Tyler Wright 17:37; 77 (--) Jake Haddad 17:51; 94 (--) Jake Thompson 18:17; 102 (--) Reynaldo Torres 18:35; 103 (--) Ryan Djurkovic 18:37; 120 (--) Charles Coccoli 19:35. 140 (--) Thomas Engle 21:41.
   
1 Northeastern U. 16;  2. Boston U. 56; 3 .Brown U. 66; 4. College of the Holy Cross 96; 5. Suffolk 189; 6. Roger Williams U. 210; 7. U. of New England 216; 8. Husson U. 229; 9. EASTERN CONN. 252; 10. Bentley U. 286; 11. Emmanuel College 360; 12. Worcester State U. 375; 13. Wentworth Inst. of Tech. 377; 14. Lesley U. 409; 15. Simmons U. 429.
   
49 (44) Kelsey Zator 12:41; 50 (46) Alison LeClerc 12:53; 52 (47) Meghan Georgescu 12:55; 62 (57) Iris Bazinet 13:19; 63 (58) Keara Fontaine 13:20; 64 (59) Elisabeth Rodil 13:22; 78 (73) Nicole Popham 13:58; 83 (--) Kayla LaMalfa 14:10; 84 (--) Jill McGahan 14:10.