NASHUA, N.H. - Sophomore Chloe Boutelle (Saratoga Springs, N.Y./Saratoga Springs) set a Saint Michael's College women's cross country 6K record on Sunday at the NCAA East Regional Championship while helping the Purple Knights to their best regionals finish since 2007, a 10th-place showing among 28 squads, at Mine Falls Park. The men placed 20th in a 30-team field. Each of the top three squads and top five runners advanced to the NCAA Championship.
The Saint Michael's women totaled 306 points in a championship won by Stonehill College, which notched 67 points and is ranked 12th nationally by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA). On the men's side, the Purple Knights notched 534 points to come within seven of 19th-place University of New Haven. American International College, which is ranked 16th nationally, won the meet with 48 points.
The Purple Knights' performance during the women's competition was their best at a regional since taking eight out of 22 squads at the 2007 NCAA Northeast Region Championship. Sunday's field was dominated by the Northeast-10 Conference, with each of the top seven squads and 16 of the fastest 17 runners hailing from the league. Saint Michael's finished five spots ahead of Saint Thomas Aquinas College, which sits 10th in the USTFCCCA's latest regional poll.
Boutelle's 16th-place performance highlighted a day during which all seven Purple Knight women set personal bests at the 6K distance, with two landing in the top 30 among 192 competitors. Boutelle finished the race in 22:24, breaking Mary Lynn Denholm's '09 four-year-old school record by three seconds. Sophomore Lindy Heffernan (Sutton Mills, N.H./Kearsarge Regional) took 28th in a time of 22:57, as Saint Michael's was one of six teams with two runners beneath the 23-minute threshold.
In her final college race, senior Jennifer Labrenz (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Our Lady of Lourdes) placed 68th in 24:06, sophomore Allie Gratton (Essex Junction, Vt./Essex) was 97th at 24:48, and junior Mary Miller (Aurora, N.Y./Southern Cayuga) was seven seconds behind. The other two Purple Knights selected to compete for five scoring spots were first-years Brianna McKinley (Moultonborough, N.H./Moultonborough Academy) and Catherine Tierney (Cape Elizabeth, Maine/Cape Elizabeth).
Each of the seven male competitors from Saint Michael's had personal-best times in a 10K race on Sunday, with senior Colin Delaney (Lake Placid, N.Y./National Sports Academy) completing his career by shaving 59 seconds off a two-year-old PR to take 82nd in 33:14. Sophomore Alex Gilgore (Scotia, N.Y./Scotia-Glenville Senior) was nearby in 93rd at 33:36, and junior Dana Glubiak (Chagrin Falls, Ohio/Gilmour Academy) clocked in at 34:14.
Sophomore Peter McKenna (Cohasset, Mass./Brooks School) finished his first season of college running by crossing the finish line in 34:42, and junior Steve Weng (Princeton, N.J./West Windsor-Plainsboro North) put together a time of 36:01 at his first regional meet. Senior Colin Marshall (Baldwin, Md./Loyola Blakefield) and sophomore Isaiah St. Pierre (Charlestown, N.H./Fall Mountain Regional) rounded out the Purple Knights' seven runners.
