LeDuc is named NESCAC athlete of the week

NEW LONDON, Conn., Oct. 14 –Canton’s Mike LeDuc, a junior at Connecticut College, has been honored as the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) men’s cross country athlete of the week.

Connecticut College’s Mike LeDuc

LeDuc secured a second place finish in front of his home crowd at Harkness State Park on Saturday at Conn College’s annual Invitational. The junior completed the 8,000-meter course in 24:54 to set the tone for the Camels, who placed second in the 22-team field with a score of 145 points. A total of 233 runners ran the race. LeDuc was named to the All-Invitational Team.

“Mike worked very hard this summer to prepare for the fall, and the past few weeks his training has been going very well,” said Jim Butler, Connecticut College head coach for cross country and an assistant coach for track and field. “His fitness level was evident in how well he ran on Saturday. Hopefully we can carry this forward and keep him injury free as we approach the championship portion of the season.”

As a freshman and sophomore, LeDuc earned All-NESCAC honors in cross country. Last fall, he was seventh at the league championship meet with a time of 26:25 over the 8,000 meter course. In 2010, he was fifth with a time of 26:23, earning NESCAC Rookie of the Year honors.

Earlier this year, LeDuc was selected to the third team of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA)’s Academic All-American cross country and track and field team.

This past spring, LeDuc earned Division III All-American honors in the 3,000 meter steeplechase by finishing fourth at the NCAA Division III national championship with a school-record time of 8:59.54. It was his second straight year earning All-American honors in the steeplechase.

In the classroom, the botany major was recognized on the NESCAC All-Academic Team during all three seasons of the 2011-12 academic year.