Williamstown High School graduate Mike Dowd, a sophomore at Rowan College Gloucester County, ran 27:18 in wet, cold and windy conditions to place second in the JUCO XC Division 3 nationals.
Dowd finished behind only Daniel Taylor of Sandhills College in Pinehurst, N.C., who ran 26:32 over the 8,000-meter course at Stanley Park in Westfield, Mass.
Dowd placed eighth as a freshman so he’s now a two-time National Junior College Athletic Association All-America.
The versatile Dowd ran 2:01, 4:31 and 9:51 for the Braves and was also a 57.51 intermediate hurdler.
Rowan placed sixth in team scoring with 221 points. Freshmen Noah Cziryak from Triton [19th in 28:34] and Jake Kolodziej of Washington Township [22nd in 28:47] also placed in the top 25 for the Roadrunners.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 