Johnson & Wales Repeats as GNAC Champs; Lasers Finish 6th

DORCHESTER, MA- In the 17^th annual running of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Cross Country Championship, Johnson & Wales repeated to capture the men's title on Saturday, October 29^th at Franklin Park.  Lasell College claimed sixth place as a team with freshman Kyle Northrop (Bellingham, MA) pacing the team with an 11^th 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 10^th, 29^th, and 45^th to end the race in 1^st 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 11^th place finish that was four seconds behind top 10^th 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 31^st place showing and a time of 30:08.  Conor Devlin (Wellesley, MA) also notched a personal best performance with his 40^th 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 5^th at Williams College when they take part in the ECAC Regional.