JAMESVILLE, N.Y. - Sophomore Chloe Boutelle (Saratoga Springs, N.Y./Saratoga Springs) became the third runner with multiple all-conference first team finishes in the history of the Saint Michael's College women's cross country program when she placed fourth on Saturday at the Northeast-10 Conference Championship in Jamesville Beach Park.
The Purple Knight women were ninth among 16 teams with 197 points, just five short of eighth-place Bentley University, as the squad finished among the top 10 for the sixth time in eight years. On the men's side, Saint Michael's placed 12th in the 16-college field, with its 391 points just 16 short of the University of New Haven for 11th. The Stonehill College men and women, each of whom are ranked 12th nationally by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), won the meets with 60 and 65 points, respectively.
Boutelle crossed the finish line in 18:46, taking fourth among 159 entrants in the 5K race to land on the all-conference first team, which takes the top seven. She was two seconds out of third place, and eight ticks off of the runner-up's pace. Thanks to finishing fifth at the 2011 championship, Boutelle joined Suzanne Chayer '89 and Kerri D'Arrigo '89 as the only runners in program annals to land on an all-league first team at least twice; D'Arrigo did so all four years. Since Saint Michael's joined the NE-10 in 1987, D'Arrigo was the only Purple Knight to twice qualify for the first team.
Sophomore Lindy Heffernan (Sutton Mills, N.H./Kearsarge Regional) cracked 20 minutes for the third straight race, taking 31st in 19:57, while senior Jennifer Labrenz (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Our Lady of Lourdes) had a career-best NE-10 Championship finish of 50th, in 20:41. Sophomore Allie Gratton (Essex Junction, Vt./Essex) was eight seconds behind, in 53rd, and classmate Colleen Gilliatt (Grantham, N.H./Lebanon) rounded out her team's top five in 67th.
Senior Colin Delaney (Lake Placid, N.Y./National Sports Academy) was the top Saint Michael's finisher for the fifth time in as many races as he has run this fall, taking 81st in a time of 28:11 during the 162-competitor 8K meet. Sophomore Alex Gilgore (Scotia, N.Y./Scotia-Glenville Senior) was only two spots short of his finish as a first-year, placing 93rd in 28:46. Junior Dana Glubiak (Chagrin Falls, N.Y./Gilmour Academy) and sophomore Peter McKenna (Cohasset, Mass./Brooks School) clocked in at 29:25 and 29:26, respectively, and junior Steve Weng (Princeton, N.J./West Windsor-Plainsboro North) was the fifth Purple Knight to cross the finish line.
The Purple and Gold squads break for two weeks before heading to their final regular-season meet, the NCAA East Regional Championship, on Nov. 4 at Mine Falls Park in Nashua, N.H. The men run at 12 p.m., an hour before the women.
