LYNDONVILLE, Vt. - The Saint Michael's College women's cross country team took second place on Saturday, while the men narrowly missed finishing third during the Vermont Intercollegiate Championship on the campus of Lyndon State College.
With 50 points, the Purple Knight women were second among eight complete squads, trailing only nationally-ranked Middlebury College (15), which stands fourth in the latest U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division III poll. On the men's side, Saint Michael's was fourth with 101 points, with Norwich University scoring 100 to nab third in a field of nine institutions. Middlebury, which is 12th in the nation, also won the men's meet, with 25 points.
Sophomore Chloe Boutelle (Saratoga Springs, N.Y./Saratoga Springs) was the lone non-Middlebury runner among the top nine in the women's 5K, placing eighth in 21:27 during a soggy day. The next four Purple Knights were within 41 seconds of each other, with senior Jennifer Labrenz (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Our Lady of Lourdes) leading that pack in 10th with a time of 21:59. Sophomores Colleen Gilliatt (Grantham, N.H./Lebanon), Lindy Heffernan (Sutton Mills, N.H./Kearsarge Regional) and Allie Gratton (Essex Junction, Vt./Essex) taking 11th, 12th and 13th, respectively, in 22:11, 22:34 and 22:40.
Senior Colin Delaney (Lake Placid, N.Y./National Sports Academy) paced the Purple and Gold men in 17th place by running a 31:00 8K. Sophomore Alex Gilgore (Scotia, N.Y./Scotia-Glenville Senior) was just 16 seconds behind, placing 20th. Junior Dana Glubiak (Chagrin Falls, Ohio/Gilmour Academy) was the third Saint Michael's finisher, taking 30th, before sophomore Peter McKenna (Cohasset, Mass./Brooks School) and first-year Jack Loomis (Eastham, Mass./Nauset Regional) nabbed 33rd and 35th, respectively.
The Purple Knight squads head to the New England Championship in Westfield, Mass., next Sunday, when teams from Divisions I, II and III will all compete. The sub-varsity races begin for the women at 12 p.m. and the men at 12:45 p.m. prior to the women's varsity race at 1:30 p.m. and the men beginning at 2:15 p.m.
