STANDISH, ME - Saint Joseph's first-year runner Heather Eaton (Lincolnville, Maine) earned top individual honors with a 21:20 time to help the host-Monks clinch the 2012 5K Runnin' Monks Invitational team title at the SJC Cross Country Course on Saturday morning.
St. Joe's, with 62 team points, topped the eight-team field and won the event over Runner-up University of Maine-Farmington by five points. Emerson College placed third with 74 points while University of New England (75), Lasell College (118), Maine-Machias (153), Johnson State (174) and Thomas College (192) rounded out the group of participating institutions. Individuals from University of Maine-Presque Isle also ran in the 5K race but the Owls did not score as a team.
The Monks featured three of the top five finishers, as freshman Lauren Rabideau (Ballston Spa, N.Y.) placed fourth with a 21:58 effort and senior captain Ashley Condon (Sumner, Maine) was close behind, finishing fifth out of 48 participants with a 22:03 effort.
Eaton, a sophomore, claimed her first collegiate victory with a time 12 seconds faster than that of Emerson's Ali Dokus (Littleton, Mass.), the event's runner-up performer. Presque Isle sophomore Kayla Legassie (Presque Isle, Maine) toured the 5K trail in 21:46 and finished in third place.
Nearly an hour following the completion of the women's race, SJC male runner Joe DiSalvo (Derry, N.H.) captured the men's 8K individual crown with a 29:24 performance, giving the hosts a pair of champions on the day. This feat has not occurred since Ryan Prescott '09 and Alysn Ludwig '09 claimed individual titles at the Runnin' Monks Invitational on October 11th, 2008.
For St. Joe's, Kirstin McCombs (Lewiston, Maine) placed 25th (24:51), Riley Jones (Winslow, Maine) was 29th (25:19), Lauren Smith (North Kingstown, R.I.) finished 33rd (26:08), and Melissa Deplanche (Dover, N.H.) raced to a 34th-place finish (26:45). Lauren Tidd (Walpole, Mass.) (28:49) and Sarah Bakun (Clinton, Mass. (32:49) also competed in the annual event.
Saint Joseph's will compete in the State of Maine Championship next Saturday in Gorham at 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.
