WESTFIELD, Mass. - Behind all-conference finishes from sophomore Gabrielle Naranja (Fort Kent, Maine/Fort Kent Community) and freshman Chloe Boutelle (Saratoga Springs, N.Y./Saratoga Springs), the Saint Michael's College women's cross country team tied a school record by taking third place at the Northeast-10 Conference Championship on Sunday in Stanley Park. The Purple Knight men came in 11th out of 15 teams.
The Saint Michael's women were predicted to finish 13th in the NE-10 preseason coaches' poll but instead matched the program-record third-place showing turned in during the 1991, 1992 and 1993 seasons, when the championship fields were smaller than 10 schools. On Sunday, the Purple Knights competed among 16 squads, totaling 149 points to edge out fourth-place Merrimack College (150). Nationally-ranked Stonehill College won (39).
The men also improved upon preseason expectations, as they had been slated for 12th place but collected 318 points to nip 12th-place Le Moyne College (319). Nationally-ranked Stonehill (44) also won the men's meet.
Naranja clocked in at 18:15 to take fourth and Boutelle was fifth at 18:21, as each landed on the NE-10 All-Conference first team while shattering the program's 5K school record, which had been 18:35. Boutelle was the second freshman to cross the finish line at the meet. It marked the first time in program history that the women had a pair of runners qualify for the all-conference first team, which takes the top seven finishers.
Freshman Lindy Heffernan (Sutton Mills, N.H./Kearsarge Regional) was 32nd in 19:05, trimming 59 seconds off of her old PR. By placing ahead of two Merrimack runners by three and four seconds, respectively, she played an integral role in ensuring her team bested the Warriors.
Each of the Purple Knights' next five finishers also turned in PRs, with freshman Colleen Gilliatt (Grantham, N.H./Lebanon) 57th at 19:33, and senior Caitlin Ferland (Vergennes, Vt./Vergennes Union/Bay Path) in 75th at 19:51. Freshman Allie Gratton (Essex Junction, Vt./Essex) clocked in at 20:18, and sophomore Mary Miller (Aurora, N.Y./Southern Cayuga), her team's seventh runner, notched a showing of 20:38, four seconds ahead of senior Elyse Desmarais (South Hadley, Mass./Holyoke Catholic).
On the men's side, the top seven Saint Michael's finishers all recorded personal records during the 8K, with each finishing within 36 seconds of one another. Senior Matt Smith (Winchester, Mass./Winchester/Muhlenberg) was 72nd in 27:09 in the first of two tightly-grouped threesomes, followed by junior Colin Delaney (Lake Placid, N.Y./National Sports Academy) being 74th at 27:15 and senior Tom Perekslis (Duxbury, Mass./Duxbury) taking 76th in 27:17. Senior Robert Sitzer (Lenox, Mass./Lenox Memorial) clocked in at 27:26.
Freshman Alex Gilgore (Scotia, N.Y./Scotia-Glenville Senior) finished in 27:40, sophomore Sam Brigham (Montpelier, Vt./Montpelier) at 27:42, and classmate Dana Glubiak (Chagrin Falls, Ohio/Gilmour Academy) in 27:45, completing the Purple Knights' top seven.
Saint Michael's breaks for a week before competing at the NCAA East Regional Championships in Boston's Franklin Park on Sunday, Nov. 6. The women's race begins at 1:30 p.m., and the men at 2:30 p.m.
Below is the NE-10 All-Conference first team, with Naranja directly in the center, and Boutelle third from the right.
