DORCHESTER, MA- In the 17th annual running of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Cross Country Championship, Johnson & Wales repeated to capture the men's title on Saturday, October 29th at Franklin Park. Lasell College claimed sixth place as a team with freshman Kyle Northrop (Bellingham, MA) pacing the team with an 11th place finish out of a field of 100.
The Wildcats put forth an outstanding performance sweeping the first four individual places in the race and also taking 10th, 29th, and 45th to end the race in 1st with 20 points. Norwich ended second with 55 points, followed by Emerson (80 points), Emmanuel (85 points), St. Joseph's Me. (141 points), and Lasell (158 points). Seventh, eighth, and ninth place went to Anna Maria (196 points), Albertus Magnus (241 points), and Mount Ida (253 points).
Northrop just barely missed All-Conference honors with his 11th place finish that was four seconds behind top 10th place finisher. The top 10 runners automatically receive all-conference accolades, leaving Johnson & Wales with five, Norwich with two, and Emmanuel and Emerson with one award each. Northrop concluded the 8K in 28:30, a personal best this season by 22 seconds.
Raymon Donis (Raynham, MA) also came up big for Lasell with a 31st place showing and a time of 30:08. Conor Devlin (Wellesley, MA) also notched a personal best performance with his 40th place finish. Devlin knocked off 21 seconds from his prior top time and cross the finish line in 30 minutes and 58 seconds.
Isaac Montoya (El Paso, TX) also shaved time off his previous season best record of 33:02, finishing the Franklin Park race in 32:49. Grant Vantine (Fitchburg, MA), Michael Isherwood (Warwick, RI), and David To rounded out the Laser crew with ending times of 33:06, 33:41, and 40:10, respectively.
The Lasers get back into regional action on Saturday, November 5th at Williams College when they take part in the ECAC Regional.