NASHUA, NH – Sophomore standout Amber Dostie (Standish, Maine) won her second race in as many appearances with an 18:33 time in the 2012 Raiders Invitational 5K on Friday afternoon. The individual effort helped Saint Joseph's placed third out of nine participating programs with 91 team points.
With the effort, Dostie, who now has five individual top finishes over one-plus collegiate seasons, has shattered the SJC women's cross country 5K record and is the only runner in team history to record a sub-19-minute performance. The previous record-holder was Kristin Lindholm, who ran a 19:05 at Gordon College during the 1992 campaign.
The 2011 GNAC Runner and Rookie of the Year and reigning conference champion, Dostie registered a time almost exactly one minute less in the 2012 Raiders Invitational than she did in the same event – her first collegiate meet – last fall, when she placed second overall with a 19:32 performance.
Dostie's victory is made even more impressive by the fact that the running lineup was littered with NCAA DII participants. The only DIII runner to finish in the top 13 overall, Dostie's time was nine seconds better than the effort posted by runner-up Maddie Hayes, who hails from DII program Southern New Hampshire. Kerry Phelan (18:49) and Kelsey Grimmer (18:53), both from Merrimack College, placed third and fourth, respectively, while Saint Anselm College runner Allyn Doyle rounded out the top five finishers with an 18:59 effort.
Featuring four runners in the top 10, Merrimack cruised to a team victory with 35 points while Saint Anselm placed second with 51 points. St. Joe's finished one point ahead of another DII program, Southern New Hampshire, while Norwich University placed fifth with 142 points on the afternoon.
Emerson College (143), host-Rivier University (192), New Hampshire Technical (231) and Suffolk University (255) also competed in the annual event. Both Nashua Community College and Regis College featured runners in the race but did not qualify in the final standings.
Dostie was not the only SJC runner to fare well in the team's third event of the season. Heather Eaton (Lincolnville, Maine) placed 16th with a 20:01 time while freshman teammate Lauren Rabideau (Ballston Spa, N.Y.) was right behind with a 20:07 effort. Senior captain Ashley Condon (Sumner, Maine) shaved nearly two minutes off her career-best 5K performance with a 20:33 time and placed 23rd.
Finishing fifth for the Monks was sophomore Audrey Curry (Perry, Maine), who toured the 5K course in 21:45 – a career-best by nearly three minutes. Riley Jones (Winslow, Maine) (22:27), Kirstin McCombs (Lewiston, Maine) (22:59), Lauren Smith (North Kingstown, R.I.) (24:09), Melissa Deplanche (Dover, N.H.) (25:10), Lauren Tidd (Walpole, Mass.) (26:07), and Sarah Bakun (Clinton, Mass.) (29:27) also competed in the event for Saint Joseph's.
Saint Joseph's resumes action next Saturday with an appearance in the Keene State College Invitational. Start time is slated for 11:00 AM.
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.