ROCHESTER, N.Y. (November 22, 2017) – For the first time in program history, the Stevens Institute of Technology men's cross country program swept the Empire 8 Postseason awards; the Ducks boasted the Runner of the Year (Greg Arabagian), Rookie of the Year (PJ Gunther) and Coaching Staff of the Year after claiming their first Empire 8 title this fall.
 
Arabagian won the Empire 8 individual title with a time of 27:44 at the Empire 8 Championships on October 31. The senior also earned two Empire 8 Runner of the Week Awards this year. Arabagian's Runner of the Year award marks the second time a Stevens athlete has been honored as Michael Cahill received the honor in 2013.
 
Gunther was only bested by Arabagian at the Empire 8 Championship race, 10 seconds off the winning time at 27:54. The freshman was named the conference's Runner of the Week on October 9. He was the fourth freshman at the NCAA Regional meet, as he placed 68th out of 290 runners with a time of 26:03. His personal best 8K time of 25.51 came at the Highlander Invitational on Oct. 7. It was the fastest 8K for a freshman in Stevens program history. Gunther is the second Stevens runner to earn Rookie honors, joining previous honoree David DeWan (2009).
 
The pair of Ducks were the only two runners in the race to break the 28-minute barrier in the 8k and were both named first-team all-conference.
 
Head coach Justin Wood led the Empire 8 Coaching Staff of the Year after delivering the first Empire 8 Cross Country Championship to Castle Point after joining the conference in 2008.

Stevens claimed the program's first conference championship title with a team score of 23. The Ducks had eight runners in the top-20, including five in the top-10 earning first-team All-Empire 8 honors.
 
The men's cross country team will raise the first conference championship banner in program history next year.

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