BRIDGEWATER, Mass. - For the fifth time this season, Bridgewater State College senior Avery Bouchard has been selected as the Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Men's Cross Country Runner of the Week.
A native of Fall River, Massachusetts, Bouchard qualified individually for the NCAA Division III Men's Cross Country Championships after placing 17th for the Bears at the New England Regionals on Saturday. The 2008 MASCAC Runner of the Year covered the 8,000-meter course in a time of 26:40.0.
Bouchard, who received All-New England recognition for placing among the top 35 finishers, will be returning to the national championship meet for the second time in his career as he also competed as a sophomore in 2005.
The entire NCAA field of 32 teams and 56 individual qualifiers was announced on Sunday afternoon. The national championship race will be hosted by Hanover College in Hanover, Indiana on Saturday the 22nd.
At the 2005 championships, Bouchard finished 69th out of the nation's top 215 harriers.