STANDISH, Maine – University of Maine-Farmington tallied 56 team points to win the 2015 8K Runnin' Monks Invitational on Saturday afternoon. Beavers sophomore Robert Hollis claimed individual honors with a 27:33 effort, nearly a full minute faster than Saint Joseph's sophomore Lucas Fisher (Strafford, N.H.), who placed second with a 28:28 time.
Maine-Farmington, which last won the Runnin' Monks event in 2007, earns top team honors after placing all five scorers in the top 20 individually. Lasell College was the runner-up with 101 points, University of New England placed third (108), Thomas College was fourth (113) and Emmanuel College finished fifth (125).
Maine Maritime (141), Maine-Presque Isle (160), Saint Joseph's (186), Emerson College (225), Johnson State (234), Nichols College (286), Wheelock College (354) and Husson University (365) also raced in the event. Maine-Augusta, Mount Ida College and Central Maine Community College featured fewer than five runners in the 8K race.
Individually, Emmanuel's Ian Chamenko finished third (28:42), Connor Wagner of Maine-Farmington was fourth (28:45) and Nick Kopf of Thomas capped the top five finishers with a 29:03 performance.
For the Monks, senior Taidghe Hagan (Reading, Mass.) finished 23rd (30:39), senior Andrew Caron (Gardiner, Maine) was 33rd (31:17), sophomore Nick Shuckrow (Winslow, Maine) placed 51st (32:04) and freshman Avery Liotta-Henderson (Waterbury, Conn.) was 98th (36:46).
Saint Joseph's College Alumni Mike Gordon, Steve Trudeau, Bob Camara, Dennis Berard, Richard Brooks, George Bockus and Scott Roberts – all members of the 1987 Saint Joseph's men's cross country team which placed ninth in the NCAA Championship – also competed in today's 8K race. The 1987 team was inducted into the SJC Athletics Hall of Fame in 2013.
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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 474-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.
