The William & Mary men's cross country team extended the fourth-longest winning streak in NCAA history on Friday, winning the Colonial Athletic Association Championships for the 19th year in a row.  Ahead by just two points roughly two-thirds of the way through the race, the Tribe kicked into high gear down the stretch to extend it's lead to 11 points, beating runner-up Northeastern 37-48.  Elon and surprising Hofstra both scored 81 points, with Elon taking third on tie-breakers, while the College of Charleston was fifth at 128 points and UNCW rounded out the field with 176 points.  Junior Alex Masai of Hofstra took the individual crown, running 24:00.7 over 8K distance to win Hofstra's first conference title by a scant 0.6 seconds.  

W&M put a conference-best five athletes on the all-conference team, led by senior Ryan McGorty (Fairfax, Va.) who ran 24:01.3 to finish second overall for the second year in a row.  Underclassmen provided the rest of the Tribe's scoring punch, promising an exciting future for the program.  Redshirt-freshman Micah Pratt (Lynchburg, Va.) took seventh place in 24:20.7, followed in close order by sophomore Spencer Tsai (Eugene, Ore.) and redshirt-freshman Patrick Lynch (Vienna, Va.).  Tsai was eighth in 24:27.7, while Lynch crossed the line in 24:34 to take ninth overall.  Finishing out the scoring with his first all-conference performance was true freshman Zachary Levet (Glen Allen, Pa.), who finished 11th in 24:41.1.  Junior Cooper Leslie (Camp Hill, Pa.) was sixth for the team and 16th overall in 24:56.5, finishing half a step ahead of redshirt-senior Dawson Connell (Yorktown, Va.), 24:56.7 for 17th place in his season debut.

W&M's 19th championship in a row is the fourth-longest in NCAA men's cross country history, and the second-longest active streak in the nation behind Iona (27 in a row in the MAAC, looking for 28 on Saturday).  Overall, W&M has won 41 men's cross country championship titles, third-most all-time in Division I and behind only Wisconsin and Arkansas, who have 48 apiece.  The Tribe has 26 wins in the Colonial Athletic Association alone, which is tied with the W&M women's tennis team for the most championships in any sport in conference history.  The 19 wins in a row is also the longest-streak ever in the CAA in any sport, men's or women's.

William & Mary continues its post-season march in two weeks, racing at the Southeast Region Championships.  The regional meet will be hosted by Winthrop University this year in Rock Hill, S.C., on Friday, Nov. 9.

2018 Colonial Athletic Association Men's Cross Country Championships
Bethpage State Park - 8K

Team Standings
1. William & Mary 37
2. Northeastern 48
3. Elon 81
4. Hofstra 81
5. College of Charleston 128
6. UNCW 176

All-Conference Team
1. Alex Masai (HOF) 24:00.7
2. Ryan McGorty (W&M) 24:01.3
3. Meshack Kipchirchir (HOF) 24:03.9
4. Nick Ciolkowski (ELON) 24:11.0
5. Dan Romano (NU) 24:11.4
6. Alexander Korczynski (NU) 24:17.0
7. Micah Pratt (W&M) 24:20.7
8. Spencer Tsai (W&M) 24:27.7
9. Patrick Lynch (W&M) 24:34.0
10. Chance Lamberth (NU) 24:37.6
11. Zachary Levet (W&M) 24:41.1
12. Andrew Miller (Elon) 24:41.8

Other W&M Individuals
16. Cooper Leslie 24:56.5
17. Dawson Connell 24:56.7
19. Evan Goodell 24:58.0
22. Jack Mackey 25:05.6
25. Chris Short 25:22.5
28. John Cacciatore 25:27.8
30. Miles Owens 25:35.0