SVC Harriers Make All-Conference Team
JAMAICA PLAIN, Mass. - Southern Vermont men's cross country harriers freshman Nick Murray (Hummelstown, PA/Lower Dauphin HS) and sophomore Lance Spratling (Pittsfield, MA/Taconic HS) were named to the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) all-conference team Sunday, October 26. Both the men's and the women's team garnered NECC awards as they competed in the NECC Championships at Franklin Park.
On top of being picked for the all-conference team Murray took home the NECC men's cross country "rookie of the year" honor. He finished 8th overall in the NECC Championships breaking his old career best time of 29:46.78 with a time of 29:43.
Following close behind Murray was Spratling who placed 10th overall with a time of 30:23. Spratling ran consistently well throughout the season and was honored to acquire a spot on the all-conference team as well.
Southern Vermont head coach Joe Catania was pleased with the awards they received, "Nick and Lance ran strong for the team all year and deserve their all conference accolades. They both saved their best for last which is the way it is supposed to work. Nick winning the "rookie of the year" award should give him the incentive and momentum to progress at being a better runner and competitor."
Rounding out the men's harriers freshman Orion Slavin (Sunapee, NH/Sunapee HS) finished 19th (33:10), freshman Sean Moore (Upper Marlboro, MD/Dr. Henry A. Wise Jr. HS) finished 22nd (33:28), and freshman Seth Chase (Winchester, NH/Keene HS) was the last Mountaineer to cross the finish line placing 26th (35:04).
The cold and windy conditions did not affect the performance of the Mountaineer runners with the men finishing fourth out of the six teams in the 8K race.
The women's team took home the NECC women's cross country "team sportsmanship" award maintaining integrity and graciousness throughout every meet.
"Our women's team improved drastically from very humble beginnings," said coach Catania. "To be honored by receiving the team sportsmanship award is a tribute to the young lady's great attitude and dedication to the team effort throughout the year. We have only scratched the surface on what we can do here at SVC."
Senior Julie Patenaude (Canaan, VT/Canaan Memorial HS) was the first to cross the finish line for SVC finishing 13th with a time of 24:38. Only two seconds behind Patenaude was freshman Blair Downing (Metuchen, NJ/Metuchen HS) in 14th place (24:40).
Rounding out the women's harriers freshman Joellen Demers (Middlesex, VT/U-32 HS) finished 20th (25:17), senior Rachael Volk (Norman, OK/North Norman HS) finished 33rd (27:55), junior Samantha Mayotte (South Royalton, VT/South Royalton HS) finishing 43rd (32:20), and the last Mountaineer was senior Jessica Chase (Barre, MA/Quabbin Regional HS) 46th (32:56).
The women finished a respectable fourth out of the seven teams in the 5K race.
As far as the season overall coach Catania said "I am proud of the effort and dedication exhibited by our runners this year. We collectively took a big step in reestablishing a quality cross country program at Southern Vermont College. As I am satisfied with this years results and the progress that we have made from day one, our ultimate goal is to be among the top teams in the conference and to compete for the championship. Only the continued hard work by myself and our runners can make that happen."
For all your Southern Vermont Mountaineers updates go to www.svcathletics.com.
