GORHAM, ME – The SJC men's cross country team placed sixth with 218 points in the 2012 State of Maine Championship on Saturday afternoon. Sophomore Joe DiSalvo (Derry, N.H.) led the Monks and placed 53rd out of 166 runners with a 27:55 effort.
Bates College, which also won the women's meet earlier in the day, swept top team honors with 29 points, narrowly edging Bowdoin College, which tallied 30 points, in the men's meet. Colby finished third with 88 points, race-host Southern Maine was fourth with 109, and University of New England placed fifth with 150 team points. Bates has now won two straight men's state crowns and four over the last 10 seasons.
Saint Joseph's (218), Maine Maritime (226), Maine-Farmington (236), Thomas (226), Husson (272) and Maine-Presque Isle (313) rounded out the group of 11 competing institutions. For the Monks, the sixth-place effort is the best since the team finished in the same position in the 2008 State of Maine Championship.
Individually, a pair of Bowdoin teammates topped the list with junior Samuel Seekins besting classmate Coby Horowitz, winner of the last two state meets, by three seconds with a 25:05 effort. Bates junior Mike Martin was third (25:11), Bowdoin junior Nicholas Saba placed fourth (25:14), and Bates junior Tully Hannan finished fifth (25:16).
For the Monks, Faisal Abdillahi (Lewiston, Maine) placed 80th with a 29:17 effort, Taidghe Hagan (Reading, Mass.) was 104th with a 30:37 time, and Andrew Caron (Gardiner, Maine) finished in 107th place with a 30:44 performance. Jeff Merrill (Fitchburg, Mass.) (31:17, 114th), Billy Brooks (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) (33:36, 139th), Sam Dunay (Groton, Conn.) (35:28, 154th), Bryndon Page (Windham, Maine) (35:59, 156th) and Mark McCarraher (Franklin, Mass.) (37:35, 158th) also competed in the annual race.
St. Joe's does not compete again until October 27th when both programs compete in the 2012 GNAC Championship, hosted by Rivier University, in Nashua.
Saint Joseph's College, founded in 1912 by the Sisters of Mercy, celebrates its Centennial year in 2012 with a theme of "Realize the Promise" – honoring our commitment to educating well-rounded graduates who combine career focus with classic liberal arts studies. A Private, Catholic, primarily residential, coeducational liberal arts institution, Saint Joseph's welcomes students of all ages and all faiths. The campus, located 18 miles northwest of Portland and just two hours from Boston, encompasses 350 acres along the shore of beautiful Sebago Lake in Standish, Maine. Enrollment ranges between 1,000 and 1,100 students annually. Saint Joseph's offers challenging academic programs in the liberal arts and sciences, education, nursing and business fields in a value-centered environment.
