GORHAM, ME – Saint Joseph's College placed fifth out of 10 participating teams in the 2012 State of Maine Women's Cross Country Championship on Saturday morning. Sophomore Amber Dostie (Standish, Maine) paced the Monks and recorded a seventh-place finish after touring the 5K course in 18:30.
With the time, Dostie has broken the SJC women's cross country 5K record for the second time this season. The second-year standout first broke the program mark with an 18:33 effort en route to winning the Raiders Invitational in Nashua, N.H. on September 21st.
Dostie's performance this morning was just 14 seconds off the pace of the individual champion, Southern Maine junior Molly Carl, who trekked the trail in 18:16 to claim the state title for the second-consecutive season. According to SJC Sports Information records – which date back to the 1992 campaign – the effort by Dostie is significant, as no women's runner had placed in the top 10 at the state meet prior to today.
With all seven runners placing in the top 15 individually, Bates College raced to the State Championship with 38 points, 23 better than runner-up Bowdoin College. Colby College, which entered the meet having won four straight state titles and seven of the last eight overall, placed third with 64 points and race-host Southern Maine finished fourth with 83 points.
Saint Joseph's (159), University of New England (164), Maine-Presque Isle (219), Husson (221), Maine-Farmington (253) and Maine Maritime (315) rounded out the list of participating institutions. For the Monks, the fifth-place effort is the team has earned in the last 10 seasons at the State of Maine Championship.
Individually, Bates junior Gabrielle Naranja was the runner-up with a 18:19 time, Colby senior Berol Dewdney finished third (18:22), Bowdoin junior Madelena Rizzo was fourth (18:24), and Bowdoin senior Olivia MacKenzie placed fifth (18:26).
For the Monks, freshman Lauren Rabideau (Ballston Spa, N.Y.) finished 32nd out of 154 runners with a 19:41 time, Heather Eaton (Lincolnville, Maine) was 46th with a 19:55 effort, and Ashley Condon (Sumner, Maine) toured the course in 20:51 to place 67th. Riley Jones (Winslow, Maine) (22:09, 106th), Kirstin McCombs (Lewiston, Maine) (23:34, 126), Melissa Deplanche (Dover, N.H.) (24:20, 130th), Lauren Smith (North Kingstown, R.I.) (24:36, 134th), Macy Pagurko (Augusta, Maine) (26:15, 144th), Cally Hughes (Waterville, Vt.) (26:15, 145th), and Sarah Bakun (Clinton, Mass.) (29:23, 151st) also competed in the annual event.
St. Joe's does not compete again until October 27th when both programs compete in the 2012 GNAC Championship, hosted by Rivier University, in Nashua.
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.