By Jim Fenton

CONTOOCOOK, N.H. -- The Bridgewater State University men's cross country team placed 11th at the NCAA Division III East Region Championships on Saturday.

The Bears finished in the top third of the meet, which included 32 teams at the Hopkinton State Fairgrounds. A year ago, BSU was the 16th-place finisher.

For the second year in a row, senior Kyle Ackroyd (Charlestown, R.I.), was the first BSU runner to complete the eight-kilometer course as he earned USTFCCCA All-East Region honors with a top-35 finish.

Ackroyd was 28th out of 216 runners in a time of 25:30.5, including 6:11.8 in the first two kilometers, 12:32.5 at the midway point and 19:00.1 after six kilometers.

Last season, Ackroyd was 57th in a time of 26:43 and was 63rd as a sophomore in 2023.

Graduate student Kevin McBirney (East Bridgewater, Mass.) was the second BSU runner to complete the course. He was 44th in a time of 26:03.1.

Senior Mitchell Parent (Cumberland, Maine), who was 86th a year ago, improved to 51st this season with a time of 26:08.8.

Freshman Tyler Amaral (Dartmouth, Mass.) placed 95th in his debut at the East Region Championships with a time of 27:25.6.

Junior Brian Vale (Assonet, Mass.) finished 127th in 27:59.8 and junior Owen Mackenzie (Plainville, Mass.) was 134th in 29:10.6.

Ackroyd, McBirney, Parent and Amaral earned All-Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference honors when the Bears won their second straight title this month.

MIT finished first in the region with 42 points followed by Tufts University (49) and Colby College (104).

The individual winner was Fitchburg State University freshman Paulino Guevara Matteo (Cambridge, Mass.). The MASCAC champion won in 24:31.5, just ahead ofTufts senior Amokrane Aouchicke (Bellmore, N.Y.), who finished in 24:32.6.

Each of the ten regional team champions is assured of an NCAA berth, while 22 teams are selected as at-large bids by the NCAA committee. After the at-large teams are selected, the top seven individual runners from each region (who are not a part of a qualifying team) qualify for next weekend's national championship meet. The NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships selections will be announced by press release on Sunday (Nov. 16) by 3:00 PM ET on NCAA.com.