Amherst, N.Y. – Le Moyne College senior Sean Beney (Camillus, N.Y./West Genesee) finished in fifth place at the 2017 NCAA East Region Cross Country Championships on Saturday at Audubon Golf Course to earn a berth in the NCAA Championships. Beney led the men's team an eighth-place finish, while the women's team also placed eighth.

Beney will compete at the NCAA Division II National Championship in Evansville, Indiana on Saturday, November 18.
 
In the men's team competition, Stonehill College, as it did at the NE10 championship two weeks ago, snapped American International College's streak of three straight championships with 39 points after having five of the top 13 finishers. Joining the Skyhawks at the national championship in two weeks will be American International, which placed second with 105 points, and Merrimack College, which placed third with 121 points. Le Moyne's eighth-place finish is up one spot from last year and its best over the last 13 seasons. AIC's Leakey Kipkosgei added to his second straight conference title by claiming his second consecutive individual title with a first-place time of 32:38.8.
 
On the women's side, Assumption College, which placed second at the NE10 Championship two weeks ago, won its first regional championship with 45 points after having four scorers in the top nine. Stonehill College and Roberts Wesleyan College earned berths to the NCAA Championships by placing second and third, respectively, with 46 and 110 points. Le Moyne's eighth-place finish is four spots higher than last season. Stonehill's Emily Knox gave the Skyhawks three straight individual champions by crossing the finish first in 22:43.6.
 
Beney earned Le Moyne's first NCAA Championships berth and his second straight all-region honor by placing fifth after navigating the 10-kilometer course in 33:28.0. He earned the berth by virtue of being the second individual (of three selected) not from a top-three team (Stonehill, AIC, Merrimack) to finish. He finished 17 spots higher than last year and 36 higher than two years ago. Sophomores Chris Davitt (Delmar, N.Y./Bethlehem) and Nick Taylor (Endicott, N.Y./Maine-Endwell) gave the Dolphins three all-region honorees by finishing 11th and 17th, respectively. Davitt registered a time of 34:01.2 to finish 47 spots higher than last year, while crossed the line in 34:22.1 to improve by 38 spots. Junior Griffin Klein (Fair Haven, N.Y./Red Creek) turned in a 54th-place finish, up 14 spots from last year, with a time of 35:57.4. Junior Mahamadou Jagana (Bronx, N.Y./DeWitt Clinton) rounded out the team's top five scorers by placing 130th with a time of 39:49.7.
 
Junior Brittney Mack (Poestenkill, N.Y./Averill Park) led the women's team by placing 33r with a time of 24:26.5 over the six-kilometer course. Freshman Vanessa Eberhard (Liverpool, N.Y./Liverpool) was two spots back in her NCAA debut with a time of 24:31.1. In her final NCAA appearance, senior Jeanette Cudney (Cazenovia, N.Y./Cazenovia) registered a time of 25:16.7 to record a 63rd-place finish. Sophomore Mya Walters (Cazenovia, N.Y./Cazenovia) completed the course in 25:35.3 to place 72nd, while classmate Siara Clos (Syracuse, N.Y./Onondaga) registered a time of 25:45.1 to place 78th, six spots better than last year.