WALTHAM, Mass. – Bentley University's Kevin Curtin has been named the 2012 East Region Division II Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association after his Falcons qualified for the NCAA Division II Championships for the first time since a four-year run to start the century.

With a team of six seniors and one junior, Bentley finished second in the East Region championships, and in the process, defeated two teams it had been behind during a fourth-place finish in the Northeast-10 Championships two weeks previously, UMass-Lowell and Stonehill College.

Bentley was the only team to have three runners placed in the top 11 in the 27-team meet and saw its top five all earn Division II All-East Region honors: Rob Dextradeur (Branford, Conn./Branford HS), John Drago (Avon, Conn./Avon HS), Sean Maguire (Essex, Vt./Essex HS), Craig Robinson (Scarborough, Maine/Scarborough HS) and Teddy Farley (Acton/Acton-Boxborough Reg. HS). All are seniors.

Curtin, who came to Bentley in December 2010, is in his second year as the men's and women's cross country coach and will soon be entering his third year as the university's track coach. Formerly the head coach of the New Balance Boston Track Club, the Billerica native and resident is a 1984 graduate of Brandeis University and was a participant in the 1988 U.S. Olympic trials.

Bentley's performance in the regional meet vaulted the team into the USTFCCCA Division II top 25 with the Falcons returning to the rankings at number 23. It's their first appearance in the poll since being number 32 in the preseason rankings this fall.

The NCAA Division II Championships will be held in Joplin, Mo. on Nov. 17. 

NCAA DIVISION II MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY RANKINGS 

1. Adams State (Colo.); 2. Western State (Colo.); 3. Colorado Mines; 4. Chico State (Calif.); 5. Augustana (S.D.); 6. Grand Valley State (Mich.); 7.Alaska Anchorage; 8. Edinboro (Pa.); 9. Colorado-Colorado Springs; 10. Western Washington; 11. American International; 12. Ashland (Ohio); 13. Ferris State (Mich.); 14. Missouri Southern; 15. Cedarville(Ohio); 16. Southern Indiana; 17. Minnesota State; 18. Eastern New Mexico; 19. Southwest Baptist (Mo.); 20.East Stroudsburg (Pa.); 21. Lock Haven (Pa.); 22. San Francisco State; 23. Bentley; 24. Stonehill; 25. Humboldt State (Calif.); 26. Fort Lewis (Colo.); 27. UMass-Lowell; 28. Wisconsin-Parkside; 29. Lewis (Ill.); 30. Fort Hays State (Kans.); 31. Slippery Rock (Pa.); 32. Sioux Falls (S.D.); 33. Cal Poly Pomona; 34. West Texas A&M; 35. Columbus State (Ga.)