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.