SAINTS SWEEP UCAA HONORS IN CROSS COUNTRY

Dec. 2: St. Lawrence University's men's and women's cross country teams swept the honors in voting by the Upstate Collegiate Athletic Association coaches as each team had the UCAA Runner of the Year, Rookie of the Year and Coach of the Year.

Men's coach John Newman was named men's Coach of the Year after leading his team to its ninth straight conference championship. The Saints won the conference title with 20 points and went on to finish second in the NYSCTC Championship and fourth in the NCAA Regional Qualifier.

Sophomore Jon French was named the UCAA Runner of the Year after a strong season which was capped by a run in the NCAA Division III Championships as an individual qualifier. French was second overall in the UCAA championship and the top UCAA runner in the NYSCTC Championship and the NCAA qualifier.
Rookie Blake Davis was the UCAA Rookie of the Year. Davis was second among all first-year runners and first among UCAA rookies at both the NYSCTC championships and the NCAA regional qualifier. He was sixth overall and the second rookie at the UCAA conference championship meet, trailing only teammate and classmate John Gaudette.

The Saints had seven runners earn All UCAA honors based on finish in the championship race. Andy Dana and Jonah Freedman joined French, Davis and Gaudette on the first team while Aaron Ladd and Sam Perry were named to the second team.

FRENCH 84TH IN NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS

Nov. 22: St. Lawrence University sophomore Jon French ran the 8000 meter cross country course at Hanover College in 26:33.2 to finish 84th in the 2003 NCAA Division III men's cross country championships on Saturday.

French, the only Saint to qualify for the championship, moved up 36 places from his finish a year ago when he was 120th. The field included 215 starters and the race was won by Josh Moen of Wartburg in 24:34.4.

FRENCH QUALIFIES, BUT TEAM MISSES AT NCAA REGIONAL

Nov. 15: St. Lawrence University sophomore cross country runner Jon French will make his second straight NCAA Division III Championship meet appearance, but he will do it alone.

French qualified as an individual, finishing ninth overall on the 8000 meter Letchworth State Park course, but the Saints were fourth as a team and missed qualifying in the Atlantic Regional Qualifying race by one spot in the 30-team meet hosted by Geneso.

The host team won the meet with 47 points and will join the College of New Jersey, which was second with 63 points and New York University, which finished third with 101 points, as the regional team representatives in the Division III Championship race at Hanover College November 22. The Saints finished fourth with 116 points, 50 points ahead of Ithaca and Plattsburgh which tied for fifth, but out of the running as far as a team qualification.

French took one of the region's individual qualifying spots with his ninth place finish in 25:38.3 which scored as an eighth place finish for the Saints. Jonah Freedman was the second Saint runner in 25:55.9 and scored 19th while Adam Van Nortwick scored 28th and was timed in 26:11.1, senior Andy Dana was 29th in 26:15.7 and Blake Davis completed the Saint top five, scoring 32nd in 26:20.3. John Gaudette was the sixth Saint finisher in 55th place in 26:49.4 and Aaron Ladd completed the Saint seven, finishing 155th in 28:38.7. A total of 217 runners competed in the meet which was won by Ted Turner of Geneseo in 24:26.6.

SAINTS SECOND IN NYSCTC CHAMPIONSHIP

Nov. 8: St. Lawrence University's men's cross country team finished second to Geneseo in the 15-team New York State Collegiate Track and Field Conference cross country championships at the Saratoga Spa State Park on Saturday.

Geneseo, ranked first in New York State and first in the NCAA Atlantic Region, won the meet with 38 points while the Saints, second in the state and third in the region finished with 62 points, 14 ahead of third place Ithaca. The Saints were defending champions and had won four of the last six conference cross country titles.

Jon French led the Saints with a sixth place finish in 26:02 while Andy Dana was the other Saint in the top ten with a 26:13 clocking. Adam Van Nortwick was the third Saint finisher, running 14th overall in 26:27, Jonah Freedman was the fourth Saint finisher in 15th in 26:29 and freshman Blake Davis completed the Saint scoring with a 17th p0lace finish in 26:37. Aaron Ladd was the Saints' sixth runner in 27:20, finishing 36th with freshman John Gaudette completing the top seven in 27:21.

The Saints will run at the NCAA Atlantic Regional Qualifier hosted by Geneseo at Letchworth State Park next weekend.

SAINT MEN WIN SARATOGA INVITATIONAL

Oct. 25: St. Lawrence University's men's cross country team placed four runners in the top ten and went on to take the team title in the Saratoga Invitational hosted by Rensselaer on Saturday.

The Saints, running the same course which will host the New York State Collegiate Track Conference championship in their next outing on Nov. 8, finished with 37 points with Ithaca five points back with 42 and R.I.T. third with 69 in a nine-team field.

Mike Styczynski of Ithaca was the individual champion in 25:29, one of the best times in course history at Saratoga. Jon French led the Saints with a second place finish, 20 seconds back in 25:49 while Andy Dana was third overall in 25:58.

Jonah Freedman was the Saints' third finisher and was sixth overall in 26:17, Adam Van Nortwick returned to action after battling injury and was 10th in 26:39 and Sam Perry ran a strong race to finish as the Saints' fifth man in 27:05.

Aaron Ladd finished 24th overall in 27:28 and Kevin Emblidge completed the Saint top seven with a 29th place finish in 27:36. Other finishes for the Saints included a 30th by Dane Schneider in 27:37, a 35th by Ryan Pollock in 27:46, 46th by Ian Hubbard in 28:23, 47th by Ben Meade in 28:24 and a 54th by Brian Aucter in 28:42.

SAINT MEN 9th AT ALBANY CROSS COUNTRY INVITATIONAL

Oct. 18: Jonah Freedman finished 21st overall to lead St. Lawrence University’s men’s cross country team to a ninth place finish in a 25-team field at the 37th Albany Cross Country Invitational hosted by the University at Albany Saturday.

The Saints ran their third different lineup in as many weeks to continue to prepare for the upcoming state championships and NCAA regionals.

Freedman ran 26:11 to lead the Saints while Jon French finished 46th in 26:42, Sam Perry was 67th in 27:13, Ryan Pollock was 87th in 27:43 and Aaron Ladd 91st in 27:46 to complete the Saint scoring.

SLU will run at the Saratoga Invitational next weekend.

RIT UPENDS SAINTS AT SLU CLASSIC

Oct. 11: The Rochester Institute of Technology men's cross country team grabbed the voters attention in the New York State Collegiate Track and Field Conference cross country poll on Saturday as the Tigers, currently third in the poll, upset second-ranked St. Lawrence in a three team meet on the Saints home course.

RIT finished with 22 points, while the Saints, who ran without sophomore standout Jon French, finished second with 40. Clarkson completed the field in the SLU Classic and finished with 77 points.
Jeff Abbott of RIT was the overall champion, covering the 8 kilometer course in 26:31. The Tigers took third, and fifth through eighth spots to clinch the meet title.

Senior Andy Dana led the Saints and was second overall in 26:52 First year runner John Gaudette was fourth overall in 27:24 and Aaron Ladd was the third Saint in the top ten in 27:46. Freshman Dane Schneider finished 13th overall and was the fourth Saint runner in 28:25 and Kevin Emblidge completed the Saint scoring with a 14th place finish in 28:30. Sam Perry was 18th overall and Jamey Maswick was 19th to complete the Saint top seven while Ben Meade was 23rd, Ian Hubbard 24th, Brian Aucter 27th and Ryan Pollock finished 30th for the Saints.

SAINTS SAIL TO UCAA TITLE

Oct. 4 - The Saint Cross Country team sailed to their ninth straight UCAA team title. St. Lawrence finished with 20 points, placing five runners in the top six.

Jon French came in second in a time of 26:30, Jonah Freedman came in right behind at third with a time of 26:56. Finishing at fourth was Andy Dana at 27:07 and John Gaudette finished in fifth with a time of 27:20. Blake Davis came in sixth with a time of 27:23.

Coming in at ninth was Aaron Ladd with a time of 27:45, Sam Perry came in at 11th, turning a time of 27:53. Ryan Pollock came in at 16th with a time of 28:01 and at 17th was Dane Schneider with a time of 28:13. Brian Aucter also finished with a time of 28:13. Ben Meade came in at 23rd turning in a time of 28:31. Jamey Maswick rounded out the scoring for St. Lawrence coming in at 37th with a time of 29:30.

FRENCH LEADS SAINTS AGAINST TOUGH FIELD

Sept. 27: Sophomore Jon French finished 52nd overall in 26:49.3 to lead the St. Lawrence men's cross country team in the Iona Meet of Champions held at Van Cordlandt Park in New York Saturday morning.

The Saints, the only Division III team in the field, finished 17th in a 19-team field, beating New Hampshire and New Haven and finishing 20 points behind the University of Pittsburgh, which was 16th. Iona, ranked eighth nationally among Division I teams, won the meet with 37 points, edging LaSalle.

French was the only Saint in the top 90 in a 158 runner field. Rookie John Gaudette finished 98th overall and was the second Saint finisher in 27:40.4 while Andy Dana was 102nd overall in 27:42.8, Jonah Freedman was 112th in 27:48.8 and Blake Davis was 123rd in 28:20.1. Kevin Emblidge was the Saints' sixth runner and finished 141st overall while Aaron Ladd was 151st and Ryan Pollock finished 152nd.

The Saints will return to Division III competition next weekend when they run at the UCAA Championships at Hobart/William Smith.

SAINTS PITCH SHUTOUT IN HOFFMANN INVITATIONAL

Sept. 20: St. Lawrence runners swept the top five spots and placed eight in the top ten to throw a shutout at the competition in the three-team Ronald C. Hoffmann Invitational on the 8 kilometer Saint cross country course Saturday afternoon.

Sophomore Jon French led the Saint pack across the finish line in 26:36 to take the individual championship with a 23 second cushion on senior teammate Andy Dana. Sophomore Adam Van Nortwick was third in 27:15, senior Jonah Freedman was fourth in 27:20 and freshman Blake Davis completed the Saint scoring with a fifth place finish in 27:21.

Weston Fellows was the first Oswego finisher in 27:23 in sixth place while Sam Morse led Clarkson with an eighth place finish in 27:37 as they sandwiched the sixth Saint finisher, Aaron Ladd, who ran 27:32.

The Saints won the team title with 15 points while Oswego was second with 57 and Clarkson third with 65.

The Saints will run in the Iona Invitational next weekend.

SAINTS 2ND IN DUEL WITH GENESEO AT OSWEGO RACE

Sept. 13: St. Lawrence University's men's cross country team placed four runners in the top ten, but lost a tight battle with Geneseo for the2003 Don Masterson Men's team title at the Oswego State Cross Country Invitational on Saturday.

Geneseo, which had five runners in the top 12, finished with 38 points while the Saints finished with 41 with Ithaca a distant third with 83 in an 11-team field.

Jon French led the Saints, finishing third overall in 25:42. Ted Turner of Geneseo won the individual championship in 25:22. Sophomore Adam VanNortwick finished fifth overall in 26:01 while Andy Dana was eighth in 26:14 and Jonah Freedman was 9th in 26:20. Freshman John Gaudette was the fifth scoring runner for the Saints with a 16th place finish in 26:47 and was the top first year runner overall in a 131 runner field.

Other Saint finishes included 19th by rookie Blake Davis in 26:58, 31st by Kevin Emblidge in 27:50, 40th by Brian Aucter in 28:08, 43rd by Ryan Pollock in 28:20, 45th by Dane Schneider in 28:27, 54th by Jamey Maswick in 28:49 and 58th by Ian Hubbard in 29:01.

The Saints will host the Ronald C. Hoffmann Invitational next Saturday.

SAINTS SECOND AT PLATTSBURGH

Sept. 6: Host Plattsburgh placed four runners in the top ten and edged St. Lawrence for the team title in the Plattsburgh Cardinal Classic cross country race on Saturday as the Saints rested four of their top runners.

Sam Pitts of Plattsburgh was the overall winner in 21:12 while rookies Davis Blake and John Gaudette were the top Saint finishers in fourth and fifth in 21:36 and 21:39 respectively. Aaron Ladd was eighth in 21:55, Kevin Emblidge was 13th in 22:37 and Brian Aucter was 15th in 22:55 to complete the Saint top five.

Ian Hubbard was 21st in 23:10 and Jamey Maswick was 24th in 23:24 to complete the Saint top seven.

Senior Andy Dana, sophomores Jon French and Adam Van Nortwick and rookie Dane Schneider, who all look to be among the Saint leaders this season, sat the opening race out and will run next weekend at Oswego.

Plattsburgh finished with 36 points while the Saints were second with 45, Lyndon third with 73 and Oneonta fourth with 92. Clarkson finished with 112 points followed by Potsdam with 122 and Castleton with 184.