CAA Announces Men's Cross Country Accolades

11/27/2018 1:00:00 PM

RICHMOND, Va. (November 27, 2018) – Hofstra’s Alex Masai was named the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Men’s Cross Country Runner of the Year, while teammate Meshack Kipchirchir was voted Men’s Rookie of the Year. After guiding William & Mary to its 19^th straight CAA championship, Forest Braden was tabbed the CAA Coach of the Year by his peers.

Masai took first at the CAA Men’s Cross Country Championship on Oct. 26, setting the Hofstra 8K record on the Bethpage State Park course in Farmingdale, N.Y., crossing the line in 24:00.70. The junior became the first Pride harrier to capture the CAA individual title in the process.

Masai took two individual titles during the fall, finishing first at the Stony Brook Invitational on Sept. 8, earning CAA Runner of the Week honors. At the NCAA Northeast Regional, Masai took 62^nd place with a time of 34:28.2 in the 10K. Masai is the first Hofstra student-athlete to be named CAA Men’s Runner of the Year.

Likewise, Kipchirchir is the first Hofstra harrier to earn Men’s Rookie of the Year accolades. The freshman was third at the CAA Championship, finishing in 24:03.90. Kipchirchir was twice honored as the CAA Runner of the Week after posting what were then Hofstra 8K records. On Sept. 29, Kipchirchir posted a time of 24:29 at the Paul Short Run, bettering his 8K time with a 24:26 at the Wisconsin Pre-Nationals on Oct. 13. At the NCAA Northeast Regional, Kipchirchir led Hofstra with a 10K time of 34:16.8 to finish 51^st.

For the second straight year, Braden was voted the CAA Coach of the Year by his peers. William & Mary captured its 19^th straight CAA title in October, putting all five scorers into the top 11 places in the meet. Braden has been named coach of the year in both of his seasons at the helm of the Tribe.

The top-12 finishers at the CAA Championship earned All-CAA honors and are listed below in alphabetical order.

All-CAA Team
Nick Ciolkowski, Elon
Meshack Kipchirchir, Hofstra
Alexander Korczynski, Northeastern
Chance Lamberth, Northeastern
Zachary Levet, William & Mary
Patrick Lynch, William & Mary
Alex Masai, Hofstra
Ryan McGorty, William & Mary
Andrew Miller, Elon
Micah Pratt, William & Mary
Dan Romano, Northeastern
Spencer Tsai, William & Mary

CAA Runner of the Year: Alex Masai, Hofstra
CAA Rookie of the Year: Meshack Kipchirchir, Hofstra
CAA Coach of the Year: Forest Braden, William & Mary