STANDISH, ME – Sophomore Joe DiSalvo (Derry, N.H.) registered his first individual championship with a 29:24 effort in the 2012 Runnin Monks Invitational 8K race at the Saint Joseph's Cross Country Course on Saturday afternoon.

DiSalvo trailed Thomas Grylka (East Hampton, Conn.) of University of Maine-Presque Isle by approximately 15 meters heading into the final stretch, but pushed past the Owls' freshman just before the finish line to collect the victory by the slimmest of margins.

Emerson College claimed top team honors with 71 points in a tight race that would not be decided until the potential contenders' fifth runners finished the race. University of New England was the runner-up with 79 points, Lasell College placed third with 91, St. Joe's was fourth with 93 points, and University of Maine-Farmington rounded out the top five with 136 points.

Presque Isle (144), Johnson State (144), Thomas College (187), Daniel Webster College (279), Maine-Machias (289) and Mount Ida College (301) also participated in the Monks' annual meet.

Individually, Farmington's Jackson Fortin (Jefferson, Maine) (29:33), Lasell's Alex Wesselcouch (29:37) (East Haddam, Conn.) (29:37) and Johnson State's Brendan Walsh (Killingworth, Conn.) (29:55) placed third, fourth and fifth, respectively.

For St. Joe's, junior captain Faisal Abdillahi (Lewiston, Maine) finished eighth with a 30:38 time, Andrew Caron (Gardiner, Maine) placed 20th with a 32:31 performance, Taidghe Hagan (Reading, Mass.) was 32nd with a 33:44 effort, and Jeff Merrill (Fitchburg, Mass.) toured the 8K course in 33:34 to place 35th out of 82 runners.

Billy Brooks (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) (34:42, 45th), Bryndon Page (Windham, Maine) (35:24, 51st) and Sam Dunay (Groton, Conn.) (36:51, 56th) also competed in the event for Saint Joseph's.

About an hour before the start of the men's race, SJC female runner Heather Eaton (Lincolnville, Maine) captured the women's 5K individual crown with a 21:20 performance, giving the hosts a pair of champions on the day. This feat has not occurred since Ryan Prescott '09 and Alysn Ludwig '09 both earned individual titles at the Runnin' Monks Invitational on October 11th, 2008.

DiSalvo's win this afternoon snaps a four-year individual-victory drought for the SJC men's cross country team. Prescott, who won the GNAC Championship meet on November 1st, 2008, was the last male to win a race for Saint Joseph's.

Saint Joseph's will compete in the State of Maine Championship next Saturday in Gorham at 11:45 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.