CROSS COUNTRY TEAMS POST STRONG SHOWING AT TRAVIS FULLER INVITE

Sept. 10, 2011

BUZZARDS BAY, Mass. - The Emmanuel College Men's and Women's Cross Country Teams took 2nd and 3rd place, respectively, at the Massachusetts Maritime Lt. Travis J. Fuller Invitational. The 7th annual meet was run alongside the Cape Cod Canal on the Academy's campus on Saturday morning. Bridgewater State University captured 1st place in the men's meet, while UMass Dartmouth took team honors in the women's meet.

The Bears of Bridgewater State placed the top four runners to notch a score of 19 points and outdistance both runner-up Emmanuel (81 points) and third place UMass Dartmouth (84 points) over the five mile layout. David Phipps took top individual honors with a time of 26:46. Mike Giberti (27:38) was the runner-up for Bridgewater State, while Dallas O'Brien (27:55), David Granato (28:08) and Jeff Sousa (28:53) placed third, fourth and ninth, respectively, for the winners.

Framingham State freshman Joseph Schow (Southboro, Mass.) placed fifth with a time of 28:21, while Emmanuel freshman Christopher Connelly (Quincy, Mass.) followed in sixth with a time of 28:25. UMass Dartmouth's Ben Girard, New York Maritime's Luke Milano, and Emerson senior Brandon Fox (Blackwood, N.J.) rounded out the top 10 by placing seventh (28:25), eighth (28:43) and 10th (28:55), respectively.

Emerson was fourth in the final team competition with a score of 97 points, while New York Maritime (109 points), Massachusetts Maritime (137 points), Framingham State (166 points), Mount Ida (245 points) and Eastern Nazarene (262 points) rounded out the team scoring in the event.

Connelly's time was tops for the Saints for the second week in a row, as the rookie ran a 5:41 pace for the course. Emmanuel continues to run without four of its top male athletes. Sophomore Michael Morris (Stoughton, Mass.) finished 2nd for the Saints and 13th overall with a 5-mile time of 29:14. Senior Maurizio Turco (Revere, Mass.) and sophomore Nathan Bruno (Lenox, Mass.) were Emmanuel's 3rd and 4th scorers with times of 29:45 and 29:52, respectively. Junior Alen Smajic (Revere, Mass.) rounded out the scoring for the Saints with a time of 30:49.

The Corsairs of UMass Dartmouth led the women's pack. UMD placed four runners in the top nine to post a score of 32 points and outdistance both runner-up Emerson (86 points) and third place Emmanuel (88 points) over the three mile layout. Meaghan Bohigian (18:51), Courtney Testa (18:54), Samantha Roderigues (19:38) and Katie Sheehan (19:51) placed second, third, sixth and ninth for the winners. Samantha Hurley completed the scoring for UMass Dartmouth with a 12th place finish (20:24).

Bridgewater State senior Molly Rouillard (Dartmouth, Mass.) took top individual honors with a time of 18:25, while the trio of sophomore Georgia Dixon (19:31), junior Heather Hoglund (Groton, Mass.) (19:36) and freshman Ali Doukas (19:42) placed fourth, fifth and eighth, respectively, to pace Emerson.

Freshman Ameena Dye (Syracuse, N.Y.) was seventh individually with a time of 19:40 for the Saints, while Suffolk freshman Alexandra Petsuck (Drums, Pa.) rounded out the top 10 with a time of 19:57.

Bridgewater State was fourth in the final team competition with a score of 115 points, while Framingham State (183 points), Mount Ida (196 points), Curry (198 points), New York Maritime (199 points), Suffolk (221 points) and Massachusetts Maritime (223 points) rounded out the top 10. Newbury (266 points) and Eastern Nazarene (269 points) rounded out the team scoring in the event.

For the Saints, Dye's time of 19:40 was a three-mile program-record for an Emmanuel freshman. This was her second-straight week leading the way for the Saints. Junior captain Joslyn DelSignore (Taunton, Mass.) took second place for Emmanuel and 11th overall with a time of 20:07.

Senior rookie Katasi Kulubya (Anaheim, Calif.), who was competing in her first-ever cross country meet, ran a 20:50 three-mile race to finish third for the Saints and 17th overall. Sophomores Danielle Martin (York, Me.) and Molly Metivier (Keene, N.H.) ran in 4th and 5th, respectively, for the Saints, with times of 21:24 and 21:37.

The Emmanuel Men's and Women's Cross Country Teams will compete again next Saturday, September 17th, at the UMass Dartmouth Invitational.