Rouillard Captures Third Straight MASCAC Title

WESTFIELD, Mass. -- Bridgewater State senior Molly Rouillard (Dartmouth, Mass.) captured her third straight Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) individual crown to lead the Bridgewater State University women's cross country to a third place finish at the 28th Annual MASCAC Cross Country Championships at Stanley Park in Westfield.

Rouillard bested Westfield sophomore Amy Trainque (Fitchburg, Mass.) by 30 seconds as she covered the five-kilometer layout in a a time of 18:00.10 to take home MASCAC Runner of the Year honors for a third straight straight season, while freshman Danielle Poto (North Andover, Mass.) also earned all-conference honors for the Bears with a seventh place finish of 19:36.63.

Host Westfield State claimed its ninth straight MASCAC team title with a 30-point victory over runner-up Worcester State.  Westfield placed all five of its scorers in the top eight to post a team score of 25 points, as the Owls took the conference crown for the 13th time in the last 15 years and won their 16th overall championship while seeing all seven of their top runners earn all-MASCAC accolades.

Worcester followed with 55 points in the event, while Bridgewater finished third overall with 79 points.  Fitchburg State and Framingham State followed in fourth and fifth place, respectively, with scores of 104 and 164 points, while Massachusetts Maritime was sixth with a score of 169 points.  MCLA and Salem State rounded out the competition by finishing in seventh and eighth place, respectively, with scores of 187 and 211 points.

Trainque paced the Owls' scoring with a runner-up time of 18:30.01, while senior Rachael Cardin (Sutton, Mass.) followed in fourth place with a time of 19:24.16.  Freshman Ashlynne Xiarhos (Yarmouthport, Mass.) and sophomore Victoria VanAlstine-Tauer (Littleton, Colo.) were next in fifth and sixth place, respectively, for Westfield State, as Xiarhos was tabbed as the MASCAC Rookie of the Year with a time of 19:27.62 and VanAlstine-Tauer followed with a time of 19:35.59.  Freshman Abby Monette (Wilbraham, Mass.) rounded out the Owls' scoring with an eighth place time of 19:48.56, while senior Lynsay Wray (North Andover, Mass.) and sophomore Olivia Marshall (North Andover, Mass.) also earned all-conference accolades for the hosts with respective ninth and tenth place finishes of 19:49.59 and 19:58.15.

Worcester State senior Erin Donohue (Saugus, Mass.) rounded out this year's all-MASCAC honorees with a third place time of 19:08.24, while Westfield State's Bill Devine was tabbed by his peers as the MASCAC Coach of the Year.

Keene State won its 13th straight New England Alliance Championship in topping up runner-up Southern Maine by seven points (45-52) in an event that combines competition from both the MASCAC and Little East Conference.  Westfield State finished in third place in the Alliance standings with a score of 78 points, as Rouillard also took top individual honors in the Alliance championships.

Courtesy of Jim Seavey, MASCAC Director of Media Relations