BOSTON, Mass. – For the second time in as many seasons the Wentworth Institute of Technology cross country team will have a student-athlete competing for a national championship. By virtue of his program best 10th-place finish at the NCAA Division III New England Regional Meet yesterday, senior Alex Robbins (Mansfield, Mass.) has earned a spot among the 280 runners competing next weekend at the 2017 NCAA Division III Men's Cross Country Championships. The race will be held Saturday, November 18, at the North Farm Facility in Elsah, Ill. The men's race is scheduled to begin at 11:00 a.m., Eastern Standard Time.

Robbins was one of 56 individual runners chosen from across eight regions based on his finish. The top two teams from each region's regional meet earn a berth into the national championship while 16 teams are chosen at-large to round out the 32-team field. In order to qualify as an individual, a runner must be among the top seven regional finishers after the qualifying teams have been placed in the field.

An impressive senior campaign saw Robbins pick up three first-place finishes at the UNE Invitational, Paul Short Run, and the Emmanuel Saints Invitational. His time of 25:43.0 in yesterday's regional was his second-fastest to-date, just under five seconds behind the personal best he ran at the Paul Short run.

A four-time All-Commonwealth Coast Conference selection, Robbins placed second at the CCC Championship to help the Leopards pick up their third straight conference title. With a cumulative grade point average of 3.91 in Computer Science, Robbins was also named the conference's senior scholar-athlete of the year.

Robbins' selection to the NCAA Championships marks a first for the CCC with two student-athletes earning spots at the event. Gordon College senior Damon Kilgore finished with an identical time as Robbins at the regionals and will also be competing next weekend.

A season ago the Black & Gold sent their first individual to the national championship as classmate Dan McSolla (Bridgewater, Mass.) finished 78th in a field of 279 runners.

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