STANDISH, ME – The SJC women's cross country team ran in nine events last fall and placed sixth out of 13 teams in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Championship meet under the guidance of first-year Head Coach Ray Putnam in 2011.
Coach Putnam oversaw the development of 12 athletes in his first season at the helm, including freshman standout Amber Dostie (Standish, Maine), the 2011 GNAC Runner and Rookie of the Year honoree.
Dostie headlined the Monks' efforts last fall, when she finished as the top St. Joe's runner in all seven events in which she competed with three first-place efforts and six top-15 performances in her first collegiate campaign. She became the third runner in program history to record a pair of sub-20 times in the same season and won the GNAC Championship with a 19:45 effort at Franklin Park in Boston on October 29th.
The first-year runner added individual victories in the Colby Invitational on October 1st and the Monks' home meet, the Runnin' Monks Invitational, on October 8th. Dostie went on to compete at an elite level in the state and regional meets, placing 13th out of 142 participants with a 20:01 time in the State of Maine Championship on October 15th and notching an 11th-place performance with a 23:31 effort in the 6K ECAC New England Championship on November 5th. She capped her first NCAA season with a 68th-place finish after touring the 6K course in 23:16 at the NCAA New England Regional Championship a week later.
The 2011 campaign kicked off with an appearance in the University of Maine-Farmington Invitational and the Monks placed fifth out of seven programs with 132 points. Freshman Audrey Curry (Perry, Maine) paced the Royal Blue and finished 26th out of 69 runners with a 26:01 time in her first college action.
Saint Joseph's competed in the University of New England Invitational a week later and earned a fifth-place finish with 12 institutions running the 5K race. Junior Ashley Condon (Sumner, Maine) put forth a solid effort, touring the course in 23:04 to lead the Monks and finish 19th out of 94 runners overall.
Up next was a trip to Nashua, New Hampshire where St. Joe's would run in the Rivier College Invitational on September 23rd. Dostie, making her first appearance on the trails for the Royal Blue, placed second out of 76 runners with a 19:32 time, the fourth-fastest 5K performance in SJC women's cross country history and just 16 seconds off the pace of the leader, who hailed from NCAA DII program St. Anselm's College. Dostie's effort helped the Monks race to a fourth-place finish overall.
On October 1st the Monks traveled to Waterville, Maine to compete in the Colby College Invitational. Led by Dostie, who registered her first NCAA victory with a 20:25 time, St. Joe's placed second out of four competing programs. Three Saint Joseph's athletes finished in the top 10, as first-year runner Sarah Cadorette (Lyman, Maine) placed eighth (22:48) and Condon finished 10th with a 23:27 effort.
A week later St. Joe's hosted the Runnin' Monks Invitational and, with 69 team points, placed third out of nine programs in the Monks' lone home event of the year. Dostie shined again, winning her second-consecutive meet with a 20:10 performance, while Cadorette (9th, 22:17) and Condon (12th, 22:33) both put forth solid efforts to help the Royal Blue earn a third-place finish.
With the regular season now in the rear-view, the Monks advanced to championship season beginning with the State of Maine Championship in Brunswick on October 15th. Dostie continued to impress, placing 13th out of 142 runners with a 20:01 time, the fasted effort by an SJC women's runner in the state meet since Kirstin Lindholm posted a 19:35 performance in 1992. As a team, the Monks placed seventh out of 11 programs with 212 points.
Next on the docket was the 2011 GNAC Championship race, which was held at historic Franklin Park in Boston on October 29th. With three runners in the top 25, Saint Joseph's would race to a sixth-place finish with 144 team points, but the story yet again was Dostie, who won the event with a 19:45 effort en route to capturing GNAC Runner and Rookie of the Year accolades.
Dostie would showcase her ability again the following week when the Monks competed in the ECAC New England Championship in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Appearing in her first 6K event, Dostie proceeded to register the highest finish ever recorded by an SJC female in the ECAC race, 11th out of 246 athletes, after running the course in 23:31. Led by the freshman phenom's effort, Saint Joseph's finished 29th out of 40 participating teams in the annual meet.
St. Joe's would close out the 2011 season with an appearance in the NCAA New England Regional Championship, which was hosted by Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine on November 12th. Yet again, it was Dostie who paced the Royal Blue, touring the 6K trail in 23:16 en route to a 68th-place finish – the best time and finish ever posted by a Monks runner in the regional championship. Condon chimed in with a career-best 6K time (26:02) and placed 236th out of 353 participants.
The close of the 2011 campaign signaled the end of NCAA cross country for the program's lone senior, team co-captain Rachel Sevigny (Saco, Maine). Having battled through injuries during her four years, Sevigny competed in 13 events during her collegiate career and was an outstanding leader and true asset to the freshly-minted coaching staff last fall.
