Men Take Sixth, Women Finish Eighth at GNAC Cross Country Championships

STANDISH, Maine – The Suffolk cross country teams competed at the GNAC Championships held at Saint Joseph's College of Maine yesterday afternoon with the Rams' men finishing sixth and the women taking eighth. 

On the men's side Norwich marched to its eighth GNAC Cross Country Championships with 24 team points in the 8K race. The Cadets placed all five scorers in the top eight overall - and seven in the top 10 - en route to claiming the 2015 conference title by a wide margin, as runner-up Johnson & Wales finished with 67 points. Suffolk, who put together 190 points for sixth, finished ahead of Rivier (206) and Mount Ida (231). 

For the Rams, sophomore Paulo Guedes placed 27th (30:50) and freshman Alexander Marcus finished 36th (31:22). Michael Rotchford turned in a 62nd-place performance (38:18) with Michael O'Brien (41:42), Mohamed Eddin (42:55), junior Abdullal Khoory (43:00) and sophomore Marcos Ferreira (43:37) running in a pack taking 69th through 72nd, respectively. Guedes, who paced Suffolk in each of its races this season, earned a spot on the all-sportsmanship team.

Emmanuel won the women's 5k championship, its second crown in the last three years, with 49 teams points. Five Saints' runners placed in the top 18 overall to help Emmanuel slip past Simmons, which finished as the runner-up with 64 team points. Suffolk's 235 team score put the Rams in eighth ahead of Anna Maria (262) and Mount Ida (305). 

Sophomore Michelle Kearney, who earned a spot on the all-sportsmanship team, paced the Rams with a time of 24:26 for 63rd. Junior Caitlyn Caramello finished 66th (24:45) while freshman Shannon Alessandroni (26:09) and classmate Audrey Kopich (26:14) crossed the tape one after another in 87th and 88th, respectively. Seniors Felicia Kalil (91st - 27:11) and Karen Diaz (94th - 27:31) and rookie Rosie Collado (106th - 30:36) rounded out the Suffolk competitors.