JWU CAPTURES MEN’S & WOMEN’S GNAC CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIP

DORCHESTER, Mass. - The 17^th running of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Cross Country Championship took place at the nationally renowned Franklin Park course on Saturday, October 29^th.  Johnson & Wales University captured both the men’s and women’s team championships, marking the second consecutive year that the Wildcats have claimed both titles.

Emerson College and Emmanuel College played co-hosts to the 2011 Championship, which was held in the Boston area for the first time. Poor weather in the days preceding the meet caused for a few slight course modifications for the safety of the student-athletes.  The fourteen GNAC member institutions made the easy race-day adjustments and the two meets went off without a hitch.

The women’s 5k race featured the Wildcats edging out runner-up Emmanuel College to claim their second-straight and fifth overall GNAC Cross Country Championship.  JWU finished with a team total of 64 points. The Saints locked up second place with 72 points, while the first-year varsity program at Simmons College surprised the field by racing to a third place team finish with 81 points.

Saint Joseph’s College (Me.) freshman Amber Dostie (Standish, Me.) cruised to a 1^st place win and claimed both Runner of the Year and Rookie of the Year honors.  Dostie paced the field of 126 runners and finished the 5k race in 19:45.  Johnson & Wales junior Laura Furaro (North Warren, N.J.) improved on her 3^rd place finish in 2010 to finish 2^nd this year in a time of 20:24.  Saint Joseph College (Conn.) sophomore Julie Pattyson (Seymour, Conn.) raced to a 3^rd place time of 20:53.  Simmons freshman Shelly Potter (York, Me.) paced the Sharks with her 4^th place finish in 20:54.  Emmanuel rookie Ameena Dye (Syracuse, N.Y.) claimed 5^th place with a time of 20:57.

Along with the top-five, Lasell’s Meghan Missett (Lowell, Mass.), Emmanuel’s Joslyn DelSignore (Taunton, Mass.), Emerson’s Heather Hoglund (Groton, Mass.), Simmons’ Moriah Cohen (Bennington, Vt.) and Norwich’s Mallory Clark (Homer City, Pa.) each earned GNAC All-Conference honors with their top-ten finishes.  After being voted the GNAC Men’s Cross Country Coach of the Year in 2010, Emmanuel Head Coach Tony DaRocha was selected the 2011 GNAC Women’s Coach of the Year.

On the men’s side, the perennial powerhouse Wildcats cruised to their 4^th-straight and 7^th overall GNAC team championship.  The first four runners to cross the finish line represented Johnson & Wales and the Wildcats placed their first five in the top-ten for a 20 point team total.  Norwich University finished in second place with 55 points, while Emerson College snagged 3^rd place with 80 points.

JWU junior Jeff Hartman (Osseo, Minn.) was named the 2011 GNAC Runner of the Year after pacing the field of 100 male runners with his 8k time of 26:31.  Sophomore Brian Dinan (Geneva, N.Y.) captured 2^nd place with a time of 27:03.  Junior Greg Redfield, who was the 2009 GNAC individual champion, crossed the line just three seconds after Dinan to lock up 3^rd place.  JWU senior Nathan Smith (Jamesberg, N.J.) nabbed 4^th place with a time of 27:10.

Fifth place went to Norwich freshman Nate Deer (Kodiak, Alaska), who earned GNAC Rookie of the Year honors with his time of 27:59.  Also earning GNAC All-Conference honors with their top-ten finishes were Emmanuel’s Stephen Armstrong (Revere, Mass.), Norwich’s Frank Fox (Birdsboro, Pa.), Emerson’s Kyle Oppenheimer (Kingston, N.H.), Norwich’s David Rosenthal (Pasadena, Md.) and JWU’s David Tores (Ann Arbor, Mich.).  Johnson & Wales University Head Coach Thomas Spann was voted the 2011 GNAC Men’s Cross Country Coach of the Year.