BIDDEFORD, Maine – The Saint Joseph's College women's cross country team placed sixth with 167 team points in the 5K University of New England Invitational at Rotary Park on Saturday. Senior Amber Dostie (Standish, Maine) led the Monks with a 19:36 effort and placed ninth out of 140 runners in the annual event.
Dostie's time counts as the fastest ever recorded by a Saint Joseph's female runner at UNE and the sixth-best of her well-established collegiate career. The effort, Dostie's seventh sub-20 time, ranks as the eighth fastest performance in program history.
University of New England, with five runners in the top 10, won its annually hosted race for the third time in the last nine years – and first since 2011 – with 19 team points. Endicott College finished as the runner-up with 91 points while Wheaton College (100 points), Gordon College (104) and Worcester State University (124) rounded out the top five teams.
Nor'easters runners Brittney Sorbello and Tiana Thomas finished as the top two individuals with 18:40 and 18:43 efforts, respectively, while Wheaton's Jordan Silvia placed third with an 18:44 time. UNE participants Lexi Basiliere (18:48) and Angel Waters (18:48) capped the top five finishers on the day.
For the Monks, senior Heather Eaton (Lincolnville, Maine) placed 22nd (20:56), sophomore Marie Harrington (Limerick, Maine) was 39th (22:31), junior Grace Dancoes (Falmouth, Maine) finished 47th (23:22) and senior Audrey Curry (Perry, Maine) raced to a 50th place finish with a 23:31 performance.
Junior Riley Jones (Winslow, Maine) (23:54, 58), sophomore Kristina Schelling (Pelham, N.H.) (25:00, 95), sophomore Marisa Lundy (Merrimac, Mass.) (25:00, 96) and sophomore Meghan Fullarton (Windham, Maine) (31:12, 137) also competed in the 5K race.
Lundy, Schelling and Lundy posted personal-best times in what was the first 5K race of the 2014 campaign.
The Monks return to the trails next Saturday at University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth.
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Saint Joseph's College is Maine's only Catholic liberal arts college, providing a supportive, personalized and career-focused education for more than 100 years. From its 430-acre campus on the shores of Sebago Lake, the College offers more than 40 undergraduate programs to a population of approximately 1,000 students. Saint Joseph's College Online provides certificates, undergraduate and advanced degrees for working adults through an online learning program. For more, visit www.sjcme.edu.
