MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY PLACES THIRD IN GNAC CHAMPIONSHIP

STANDISH, Maine – Colby Sawyer College claimed the 2018 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Men's Cross Country Championship in the 8K race at Saint Joseph's College on Sunday afternoon. The Emmanuel men finished third overall in the field and had two runners named to the All-Conference team.

Norwich University had appeared to originally claim the crown but an ineligible runner for the Cadets allowed for Colby-Sawyer to take the championship despite the Cadets placing five runners in the top 10 overall including the top three finishers as junior Adam Saucier (Massena, N.Y.) captured the individual crown after touring the 8K course in 26:50, just one second off the SJC Course record. 2017 individual champion Brody Hale (Naugatuck, Conn.) placed second (27:18) and sophomore Jack McNally (Nokesville, Va.) was third (27:23).

Suffolk University placed second (64 points), Emmanuel College was third (74), Saint Joseph's fourth with 81 points and Regis rounded out the top five teams with 94 points. Johnson & Wales University (192), Lasell College (218), and Rivier University (228) fielded full teams in this year's championship while University of Saint Joseph (CT) entered three individuals in the 2018 event.

Individually, Suffolk freshman Matyas Csiki-Fejer finished fifth with a 27:29 time and Colby-Sawyer junior Peter Bakker completed the top five with a 27:43 performance.

Norwich Head Coach Seth Jackson, in his first year as the Cadets' skipper, claimed GNAC Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year honors, as voted on by fellow conference coaches.

For the Saints, junior Erik Brobst (Freeport, Maine) finished ninth, junior Patrick Carty (Sweden, Maine) was 13th, sophomore Trevor Hajj (Gilmanton, N.H.) placed 24th, sophomore Matthew Cronin (Coventry, R.I.) was 27th, and senior Jefferson Zannoni (Merrimack, N.H.) finished 431st.  

FIRST TEAM ALL-GNAC (top seven individuals):

Adam Saucier, Norwich
Brody Hale, Norwich
Jack McNally, Norwich
Matyas Csiki-Fejer, Suffolk
Peter Bakker, Colby-Sawyer
Korey Leonard, Norwich
Ben Jones, Colby-Sawyer

SECOND TEAM ALL-GNAC (individuals placing 8th-14th):

Liam Fleming, Colby-Sawyer
Erik Brobst, Emmanuel
Zachary Bergeron, Norwich
Troy Hendricks, Saint Joseph's
Jacob Huberdeau, Saint Joseph's
Patrick Carty, Emmanuel
Kyle Hajj, Colby-Sawyer

ALL SPORTSMANSHIP TEAM

Bruin Smith, Colby-Sawyer
Cameron Atherton, Emmanuel
Matthew Ursillo, Johnson & Wales
Ryan Dalaba, Lasell
Andrew Turner, Norwich
Gustavo Novelle-Ruddy, Regis
Yash Jagtap, Rivier
Chamroeun Chhorn, Saint Joseph (CT)
Avery Liotta-Henderson, Saint Joseph's (Maine)
Roth Santos, Suffolk

MAJOR AWARDS:

TEAM CHAMPION: Colby-Sawyer College

RUNNER-UP: Suffolk University

GNAC RUNNER OF THE YEAR: Adam Saucier (Norwich)

GNAC ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Matyas Csiki-Fejer (Suffolk)

GNAC COACH OF THE YEAR: Seth Jackson (Norwich)

GNAC SPORTSMANSHIP TEAM: Saint Joseph's College

*Release courtesy of Saint Joseph's College (ME) Sports Information