WALTHAM, Mass. – Three athletes whose resumes include past All-Conference recognition and promising freshman Tara Dooley (Lee/Lee HS) will be among the members of the Bentley University cross country teams who'll be in action Sunday morning when the 31st Northeast-10 Conference Championships are contested at the Stanley Park in Westfield.

The 8,000-meter men's race will commence at 10:00 am, and the 5,000-meter women's championship will follow an hour later.

On the women's side, junior Amy Varsell (Burlington, Conn./Lewis S. Mills HS) and sophomore Ashley Nichols (Kenmore, Wash./Inglemoor HS) will be looking to improve on their performances of a year ago, 11th and 20th, respectively. Varsell, who'll be making her season debut, was a member of the All-NE-10 second team and Nichols, Bentley's number two runner in all three races she has run this fall, earned third-team recognition.

Dooley ran her first-ever cross country race just two weeks ago at the New Englands, and responded by being the number one NE-10 finisher in the meet, placing an impressive 28th overall.

Bentley coach Kevin Curtin is also counting on junior Caitlin Fahey (Bridgewater/Bridgewater-Raynham HS) and senior Evelyn Marrero (Amsterdam, N.Y./Amsterdam HS) for strong efforts.  Fahey has been the team's top runner in two meets this fall, and has been in the top 40 each of the last two years. Marrero placed 28th last year and was 34th in 2008

The men's team is led by junior Rob Dextradeur (Branford, Conn./Branford HS), who ran to a 15th-place finish and third-team All-Northeast-10 honors a year ago.  He's participated in both the UMass-Dartmouth Shriners Invitational and the New Englands thus far this fall, and was Bentley's top finisher in both.

Others to watch for the Falcon men are juniors Craig Robinson (Scarborough, Maine/Scarborough HS), John Drago (Avon, Conn./Avon HS) and Sean Maguire (Essex, Vt./Essex HS) and seniors Gabe Campbell (Queensbury, N.Y./Queensbury HS) and Tom Witherell (Los Alamos, N.M./Los Alamos HS). Last year, Drago and Robinson were 24th and 26th, respectively.

The Bentley women, fourth in last year's meet, are currently ranked second in the USTFCCCA Division II East Region, trailing only nationally-ranked Stonehill.  The Skyhawks have their sights on a fifth title in six years.

The Falcon men were third last year, the team's best finish since 2002, and are currently ranked fifth in the region, behind conference rivals UMass-Lowell, Stonehill, American International and Southern Connecticut.  UMass-Lowell will be looking for its ninth NE-10 championship since 2000.