HOPKINTON, N.H. (November 4, 2018) – The youth was out in full force on Sunday morning, for the Northeast-10 Conference Men's Cross Country Championship, hosted by Franklin Pierce University at Hopkinton State Fairgrounds. Freshmen accounted for eight of the top-21 finishers, all of which earned All-NE10 honors at the conclusion of the day. With his eighth-place finish in a 151-runner field, Riley Fenoff (Danville, Vt.) of the Franklin Pierce men's cross country team was the second freshman across the line and earned All-NE10 Second Team accolades in his NE10 Championship debut. Fenoff led the Ravens to a seventh-place finish in the 15-team meet.

Fenoff clocked in at 25:11.6 on the 8k course, which was actually six seconds faster than his winning time on the same course at the Bruce Kirsh Cross Country Cup two weeks ago. Fenoff was the fastest of the All-NE10 Second Team selections, as the top seven finishers were awarded First Team honors, the next seven landed on the Second Team and finishers 15-21 comprised the Third Team. Fenoff was just two-tenths of a second behind Southern Connecticut State sophomore Terrell Patterson (25:11.4) for the final spot on the First Team.

Fenoff finished second among NE10 freshmen on the day, trailing only SCSU's Christopher Lebeau (25:02.05), who finished third to pace the Owls to their first-ever NE10 title. SCSU (50 points) would put all five of its scoring runners into the top 20 positions, to claim the crown by a seven-point margin over defending champion Stonehill (57 points). American International (60 points), Southern New Hampshire (91 points) and Merrimack (152 points) rounded out the top five.

Fenoff was one of three Ravens to crack the top third of the championship field on Sunday. Junior Jason Reed (Foxborough, Mass.) followed in 28^th place (26:00.6), while sophomore Cody Tallent (Bellows Falls, Vt.) crossed the line in 37^th (26:25.7), for a Ravens squad which continues to be hampered by injuries.

"With two major pieces from last year's squad sitting the fall out due to injury [Hugo Arlabosse and Jeff Reddy], this young team outperformed the expectations today," said head coach Zach Emerson after the meet. "Riley mixed it up with the big dogs, and four of the top-five finishers for us all ran big personal bests."

Two more underclassmen rounded out the scoring five for Franklin Pierce in Hopkinton. Freshman Will Aylward (Peabody, Mass.) finished 54^th in his NE10 Championship debut (26:44.8), while sophomore Antonio Rua (Burrillville, R.I.) placed 62^nd (26:56.3).

"Cody Tallent and Will Aylward stepped it up big time, and it proves that this is a young team on the rise for the future," added Emerson. "But, as always, it's up to them to learn from today and get better moving forward."

AIC senior Leakey Kipkosgei claimed his third straight individual NE10 title, with a run of 24:22.2. The time was good for a nearly-six-second win over Stonehill senior Lucas Taxter (24:28.1). Lebeau took third, while Stonehill seniors Alex Demeule (25:05.9) and Riley Dowd (25:06.0) finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

The Ravens have next weekend open, before returning to action on Saturday, Nov. 17, at the NCAA Championship East Regional, to be hosted by Adelphi in Garden City, New York.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu). Also be sure to follow the Ravens through the Department of Athletics' official Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens), its YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/franklinpiercesports) and its Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/FPUathletics). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce cross country apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).