ALBANY, N.Y. – The Vermont men's and women's cross country teams recorded their highest conference finishes of the 2000s on Saturday morning at the America East Championships, hosted by the UAlbany Great Danes.
Phoebe Koski paced the UVM women (54 pts.) to second place in the conference, finishing behind only New Hampshire (30 pts.) in the team competition.
Luke Petela was the front-runner for the Catamount men (75 pts.) who turned in a third-place finish behind Stony Brook (22 pts.) and UMass Lowell (54 pts.).
RELATED LINKS
Women's 5k Results | Men's 8k Results
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COACH'S QUOTE
"Today was a great day for UVM cross country," said head coach
Matt Belfield. "Our men had their highest finish ever and we had guys step up when it counted the most. To have six under 25 minutes was fantastic. This senior class has been outstanding and they've definitely set a new standard for men's cross country at Vermont."
"The women executed very well and put four into All-Conference again this year," added Belfield. "Having our seniors and captains be able to go up and grab that trophy was a wonderful moment for the program. We had a whole mess of fans here today as well. On behalf of the team, I want to express how grateful we are to them for making the early morning trip to support our men and women."
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Koski's time of 17:29.9 led her to a sixth-place finish in the conference meet as teammates Bel Sogoloff (17:30.8) and Annemarie Martell (17:31.2) finished right behind her.
- Meaghan Alba took 14th place with a time of 17:42.0 and Sunny Nagpaul rounded out the Vermont scorers with a time of 17:53.6 for 19th.
- Petela ran an 8k time of 24:20.3 for 10th place to lead the UVM men as fellow captain John Benner (24:25.3) finished immediately after.
- Ian Denis (24:41.3), Neville Caulfield (24:41.4) and Gavin Schmeck (24:42.2) finished in 17th through 19th to lock up third place as a team.
NOTES
- The UVM women's second-place finish is their highest in the conference championship since 1999.
- Third place is the men's best conference finish since the 1992 season when the program was a member of the North Atlantic Conference.
- Koski, Sogoloff, Martell, Alba, and Nagpaul all registered personal records in Saturday's race.
- Petela, Caulfield, and Schmeck were the UVM men who registered personal-bests in the 8k.
ALL-CONFERENCE
Six Catamounts earned America East All-Conference Honors at the conclusion of the race.
MOST OUTSTANDING ROOKIE
Bel Sogoloff was named Most Outstanding Rookie by the America East after being the first conference newcomer to cross the finish line.
UP NEXT:
Vermont cross country returns to action for the NCAA Northeast Regional on Friday (Nov. 15) in Buffalo, N.Y.
