Athletics News
2007 Season Preview
Headed Home: 2006 NCAA Qualifier Keith Drake ยด08 and the Camels Will Open the Season with the Dartmouth College Invitational at Hanover, N.H. Drake Should Have Plenty of Fan Support at the Season Opening Meet. His Hometown of Lebanon is Just a Few Miles Away From the Course.
August 22, 2007
NEW LONDON, Conn.--The 2007 Men's Cross Country team returns their top four runners from 2006. Senior Keith Drake (Lebanon, N.H.) finished 12th in the 2006 New England Division III Championship and qualified for the NCAA National Championship. Junior Brian Murtagh (Rowley, Mass.) finished 13th at the New England Division III Championship last year and earned the highest finish for a Camel at the NESCAC Championship when he placed second. Seniors Aaron Wheeler (Topsfield, Mass.), an All-New England performer in 2005, and Brendan Curran (Lynnfield, Mass.) should give the team a formidable lead pack. Adding depth to the team will be six freshmen including two-time Connecticut State Class S 2-mile champion Shawn Mulcahy (Lebanon, Conn.); Andy Patton (West Orange, N.J.); Jacob Garber (Ridgewood, N.J.); David Aigler (Medfield, Mass.); Brett Herrick (Boxborough, Mass.), and Charles Michel (Duvall, Wash.).
Head Coach Jim Butler is entering his 21st season at the helm of the Camel Men's Cross Country program this fall. Butler, the 2002 New England Region Coach of the Year and 2004 NESCAC Co-Coach of the Year is excited about the upcoming 2007 campaign.
"I am really looking forward to seeing what this team of veterans and first years can achieve," Butler stated. "We have not had as talented and deep a class of freshmen since the class of 2003, which made up the team that brought us to the National Championships in 2002. It should be a rewarding season."
Adam Fitzgerald, a 2003 All-America selection for Conn., returns for his fourth season as Butler's assistant coach. The Camels open the season September 8th at the Dartmouth Invitational. On October 22nd, the team will compete for the first time in Canada at the University of Laval Invitational in Quebec City.
For more information contact: William Tomasian (860) 439-2501; william.tomasian@conncoll.edu