Westfield, Mass. ? Michael LeDuc of Connecticut College placed fourth Saturday at the New England Division III Men's Cross Country Championship at Westfield State, earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Championship.

LeDuc finished in 24 minutes, 57 seconds, leading Conn to an eighth-place team finish with 256 points.

An All-American in outdoor track and field (steeplechase) for the past two years, LeDuc will compete in the NCAA meet next weekend at the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Indiana.

"This was one of the greatest team efforts I've ever experienced at Connecticut College," Conn coach Jim Butler said. "All seven guys had their best race of the season today. I'm very proud of what they accomplished for the college and I am looking forward to what Michael can accomplish at NCAAs."

Middlebury College placed three of its runners among the top 19 in the field to win the title with a score of 91 points.

Coby Horowitz of Bowdoin won the race with a time of 24:51.

Joining LeDuc on the All-New England Team was senior Andrew Duarte, who posted a time of 25:35 en route to his 33rd place finish. Sophomore Patrick Dermody was 44th with a time of 25:54. Senior Tim Murtagh checked in with a time of 26:42 in an 83rd place finish.

Also at the meet, Coast Guard Academy junior Gary Ezzo earned All-New England honors with a 24th place finish, as the Bears placed 15th.

Ezzo finished in 25:58 and became the first Coast Guard runner since Mike Haas in 2008 to earn All-New England honors.

Sophomores Stephen Horvath (27:07), Joe O'Connell (27:07) and Jon Lash (27:08) all finished within one second of each other placing 103rd, 104th and 105th for the Bears, who totalled 454 points.

Women's cross country

• Junior Meghan Kalinowski was the top Coast Guard Academy finisher as the Bears placed 17th of 51 teams at the New England Division III Championships at Westfield State College. Kalinowski finished with a time of 23:07 to place 72nd overall. Senior Sarah Blatt finished 99th in 23:36 while sophomore Beth Gollin was 101st with a time of 23:40 for the Bears, who finished with 544 points.

• Conn College finished 20th (640 points) behind freshman Ariana Beers, who placed 36th overall in 22:31. Also for Conn, Emily Winter was 135th (24:22), Nicole Adam was 140th (24:27), Michell Wesley was 152nd (24:44) and Anna Laurence was 186th (25:18).

• Also, a pair of East Lyme graduates also competed in the race. Brianne Mirecki, running for Williams College, finished 17th in 22:09 to earn All-New England honors while Colleen Ahern, running for the University of New England, placed 105th in 23:47. Williams finished second and qualified for next week's national championships.

Men's soccer

• Lukas Benedetto broke a 1-1 tied in the 80th minute to give second-seeded Coast Guard a 2-1 win over No. 6 Endicott in the semifinals of the ECAC New England Division III tournament.

The Bears will play at top-seeded Roger Williams, an 8-2 winner over No. 5 Husson, in today's championship match at 1 p.m. The Bears will be seeking the fourth ECAC title and first since 2008.

Coast Guard's other goal came on a penalty kick in the 52nd minute by senior Greg Kennerley. Goalie Richie Burns made seven saves - five in the second half - for the win.

Field hockey

• Fourth-seeded UConn advanced to the NCAA Division I tournament quarterfinals with a 2-1 double overtime victory over No. 16 Northeastern.

The Huskies (19-2) will play host to Maryland today at 2 p.m. for a berth in the national semifinals. Louisa Boddy scored the first goal for UConn and Vicky Arthur had the game-winner at 90:01.

Men's basketball

• Philkwan Tate had 16 points, 11 rebounds and seven steals during UConn-Avery Point's 51-47 loss to Northern Essex CC.

Malcolm Simmons added eight rebounds and Mike Martin seven rebounds for the Pointers (1-1).

Women's basketball

• Freshman Ryanne Paige of Stonington scored 15 points as UConn-Avery Point defeated Herkimer CC 58-48. Jackie Riera added 11 for the Pointers (2-0) and Kim Bouten had nine on three 3-pointers.

Football

• Reggie Gaunichaux completed 14 of 18 passes for 167 yards and three touchdowns in St. Thomas More's 35-29 loss to Williston-Northampton.

Qudeer Morgan had four catches for 79 yards and two TDs for the Chancellors (1-7) while Jaleel Reed returned an interception 99 yards for a touchdown.

Rugby

• Coast Guard Academy's club team defeated Norwich University 22-19 to win the New England Collegiate Rugby Conference title and complete an unbeaten season. The Bears also received one of 16 bids into the upcoming USA Rugby Collegiate Division II national playoffs.