WINTRHOP, Mass. – Suffolk men's cross country swept all major awards at the 2019 GNAC Championships with Matyas Csiki-Fejer and Cole Bolduc earning runner and rookie of the year status, respectively. The pair were joined by Hunter Toyoda on the all-conference teams.
Csiki-Fejer, who became the first-ever Ram to garner rookie of the year honors a year ago, became the first blue-and-gold runner to cross the championship tape first and take home the best runner recognition in program history. His accolade, and a first-team honor, the second of his career, came on the heels of a SJC Course record time of 26:40, nine seconds faster than the effort posted by James Vance of Johnson & Wales at the 2010 GNAC Championship. The Manchester, Missouri native's performance was just the fifth sub-27:00.00 time at the Monks Course in the last 12 years.
Bolduc became the second-ever Ram to pick up rookie of the year honors, following in Csiki-Fejer's footsteps. The Blackstone, Massachusetts local was the fastest first-year in Vacation Land, coming through the finisher's chute in 28:44 to take 14th overall. That finish put the freshman on the conference's second team along with his teammates Toyoda, who was seven seconds faster than Bolduc to clinch 12th.
The five honors are undoubtedly the most in program history for Suffolk's men's cross country since joining the GNAC ranks in 1997. Overall, the Rams have recorded nine all-league honorees, seven of which have come in the Will Feldman era. The accolades rundown includes one runner of the year, two rookies of the year, two first-team honorees, two second-team selections and a pair of all-league performers before the conference split nods into divisions.
In addition to the earned all-conference accolades, Toyoda represented the Rams on the GNAC All-Sportsmanship team, which was established to honor one player from each team in the conference outstanding dedication to sportsmanship and for their portrayal of good sportsmanship, fair play and a positive attitude.
2019 MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY ALL-GNAC
FIRST-TEAM(Top Seven Finishers)
Matyas Csiki-Fejer, Suffolk
Peter Bakker, Colby Sawyer
Ben Jones, Colby Sawyer
Liam Fleming, Colby Sawyer
Troy Hendricks, Saint Joseph's (Maine)
Jon Pedersen, Regis
Adam Saucier, Norwich
SECOND-TEAM (Eight – 14th Place)
Erik Brobst, Emmanuel
Kyle Hajj, Emmanuel
Zachary Bergeron, Norwich
Trenton Shimata, Norwich
Hunter Toyoda, Suffolk
Nathaniel Stucky, Norwich
Cole Bolduc, Suffolk
GNAC Men's Runner of the Year: Matyas Csiki-Fejer, Suffolk (26:40)
GNAC Men's Rookie of the Year: Cole Bolduc, Suffolk (28:44)
GNAC Men's Coach of the Year: Lyndsay Ostler, Colby Sawyer
GNAC Men's Institutional Sportsmanship Award: Saint Joseph's (Maine)
GNAC All-Sportsmanship Team
Liam Fleming, Colby Sawyer
Nick Eline, Emmanuel
Nicholas Pereira, Johnson & Wales
Matt Holden, Lasell
Andrew Turner, Norwich
Gustavo Novelle-Ruddy, Regis
Yash Jagtap, Rivier
Alex Gillissen, Saint Joseph (Conn.)
Jacob Huberdeau, Saint Joseph's (Maine)
Hunter Toyoda, Suffolk