NEW ORLEANS, La. – The United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) announced its academic honors for the 2024 season and the UMass Dartmouth men's squad was honored. Additionally, sophomore
Cameron Thompson was named to the Division III All-Academic Team.
The men's program, led by second-year head coach
Ryan O'Connell, posted a team grade point average of 3.13 to garner this year's honor. The Corsairs, paced by All-LEC First Team honoree
Cameron Thompson, recorded a number of outstanding finishes in 2024. The squad finished seventh overall at the season-opening Wheaton Invitational, followed by a win at the 11-team field at the Trinity Bantam Invitational.
At their own UMass Dartmouth Invitational, which featured 44 teams, the Corsairs took 14th overall and went on to earn fifth at the Keene State Invitational amongst at 21-team field. UMD posted fourth overall at the Little East Championships, paced by Thompson as he crossed the finish line in sixth with a time of 26:01.98. Fifth-year
Jake Paris went on to earn 12th overall, good for All-LEC Second Team honors.
UMass Dartmouth concluded the season posting 13th overall of 33 teams at the NCAA East Regional Championship, once again paced by Thompson – who finished 54th in the field of 228 runners.
Academically, the Corsairs saw five student-athletes named to the Little East Fall All-Academic Team, while 12 were LEC Academic Honor Roll selections.
Thompson, who hails from Sherborn, Mass., competed in seven meets for the Corsairs during the 2024 season. He placed 31st overall in a collegiate-best time of 16:49.3 in the 5k at the Wheaton/Babson Season Opener, then took 11th in the 5k with a mark of 16:55.6 as the Corsairs won the Trinity Bantam Invitational.
A former standout at Dover-Sherborn High School, Thompson went on to finish 48th overall in the 4.97m event with a time of 27:03.7 at the Keene Invite before recording a collegiate-best time of 26:02.0 in the 8k at the LEC's and finishing 54th overall in 26:35.8 in the 8k at the NCAA East Regional Championships.
In addition to Thompson and Paris, the men's squad in 2024 featured sophomore
Ben Bairos, rookie
Jack Barbato, junior
Cooper Blatz, rookies
Connor Bruni and
Jackson Caron, sophomore
James Carriere, junior
James Christie, senior
Benjamin Davignon, rookie
Michael Gemelli, sophomore
Ronan Maloney, graduate student
Davis Preston, sophomores
Tyler Scanlon,
Zack Shute and
Joseph Stanton, along with senior
Isaac Steele, junior
Ethan Sylvia, rookie
Isaac Toweh and graduate student
Frank Wenner.
