Rowan men’s cross country put together a dominant performance at the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Championships in Ewing, New Jersey on Saturday, Nov. 2, as the Profs took home first place for the third consecutive year and for the 26th time in the program’s history.
Head Coach Dustin Dimit is beyond proud of his team and how they followed the race plan to perfection.
“The guys put in a lot of work all year to come out and get that championship,” Dimit said. “Following the race plan, following the strategy that we had to make sure we put ourselves in position to come out with the outcome.”
Rowan had six runners in the top 10 as the Profs totaled 25 points to claim the title. Senior Joshua Cason’s first-place finish (25:11.0) was the highlight of the day for the team.
“It was a great feeling, a wonderful feeling,” Cason said. “That was the goal going into the season, to win NJACs as a team.”
Cason has been the best runner for the Profs this season, and as a result, he was named the 2024 NJAC Men’s Cross Country Runner of the Year. The senior was caught by surprise as he was not expecting to win this award and credits his work ethic as the driving force behind receiving the honor.
“That was something I was not expecting,” Cason said. “I was thrown off by it. Putting in a lot of good work this season, so really high honor.”
Rowan’s other top finishers on Saturday were junior Scott Hubbard (25:35.0) who placed fourth and sophomore Colin Patterson (25:35.3) who took fifth place. Patterson was pleased that the team ran together and is driven to continue showing everyone that they are the real deal.
“I think the message we’re trying to send is that we’re about as good as anyone in the region,” Patterson said. “And we’re a strong group when we run together and that we’re and that we’re looking to win running as a pack.”
For Hubbard, doing what his team needed of him was his biggest motivation heading into the meet.
“I finally felt like it was coming together and I was doing what I was supposed to do to help this team out,” Hubbard said. “I feel like I’ve kind of not been doing that for a few of the most recent ones. Being sick and all, probably letting it get to my head, but I think that helping the team just feels good.”
A key to the Profs’ success not only for the NJAC Championships but for the entire season has been the strong leadership of the coaching staff. As a result of their efforts all year long, Rowan’s coaches headlined by Dimit and assistant coach Eric DuBois were named the NJAC Men’s Cross Country Coaching Staff of the Year.
“It’s phenomenal,” DuBois said. “It’s nice that it’s a coaching staff award because we got a lot of people behind the scenes that help make things happen. Everybody in the athletic department, but we’ve got a couple of student coaches that are helping us as well. So it’s great to see everybody get recognized.”
The Profs will now look to claim the 2024 NCAA Metro Regional Championship on Saturday, Nov. 16 at Stockton. Dimit is ready for his team to show the region the skill and drive that his team possesses.
“We definitely feel like we’re as good as anybody in the region,” Dimit said. “That we can go out there and contend with anybody. Definitely look forward to showing that next week at Stockton.”
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