STANDISH, Maine – Saint Joseph's College, Emmanuel College and University of New England finished in a three-way tie for first place with 67 points apiece in the 12th Annual Runnin' Monks Invitational on Saturday morning.
The three-way tie was declared after consulting with the NCAA rulebook, which does not offer a solution for such occurrences. According to Section 6: Article 3: "Ties in team scoring shall be broken by comparing the place finish of the five scoring members of the tied teams. The team with the majority of winning places shall be awarded the higher place."
Emmanuel College junior Sean Colford (Epping, N.H.) was the top individual finisher with a 28:23 effort, 17 seconds ahead of runner-up Robbie Hollis (Auburn, Maine), a freshman from Maine-Farmington. Saint Joseph's sophomore Nick Shuckrow (Winslow, Maine) placed third with a 28:45 effort while Maine-Farmington sophomore Austin Gatcomb (Wrentham, Mass.) was fourth and Johnson State junior Brendan Walsh (Killingworth, Conn.) rounded out the top five with a 29:09 performance.
For Colford, the win on the Saint Joseph's course is his third in as many tries, as the third-year standout won the Runnin' Monks event last season with a 28:05 time and collected top honors at the 2013 GNAC Championship with a 27:49 effort.
Overall, Maine-Farmington was fourth (82 points), Thomas College finished fifth (111), Johnson State was sixth (136), Emerson College placed seventh (153) and Nichols College was eighth (187). Maine Machias also competed in the men's race but did not score.
For Saint Joseph's, freshman Lucas Fisher (Strafford, N.H.) and senior Joe DiSalvo (Derry, N.H.) both finished in the top 10 with sixth (29:11) and ninth place (29:39) performances, respectively. Junior Andrew Caron (Gardiner, Maine) raced to a 24th-place finish (31:19), junior Taidghe Hagan was 28th (31:55) and senior Matt Boucher (Augusta, Maine) placed 63rd (35:33) out of 73 participants.
With the deadlock atop the final standings, Saint Joseph's takes at least a share of the Runnin' Monks championship for the first time since 2008 and third time overall. Also, Shuckrow's 28:45 time is the fourth-fasted by an SJC athlete in the team's annual race.
Saint Joseph's returns to the trails next Saturday when the Monks compete in the 2014 Maine State Championship, which is hosted by Maine-Farmington at Mount Blue High School.
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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.
