AMHERST, MA – The University of Maine at Augusta traveled to the YSCC Cross Country Conference Championship hosted by Hampshire College over the weekend.
It was a weekend of many firsts for the cross-country program here at UMA. This was the first time the Moose have fielded two full scoring teams at the conference championship.
In the Women’s 6K race, senior Carmen Bragg led the Moose with a time of 27:24, a personal best at that distance for Bragg. This was good enough for 7th place, landing Carmen Bragg on the YSCC All Conference Team for cross country.
Bragg was not the only strong performance of the day for the Moose on the women’s side. Shauna Riordan and Emily Billings both turned in strong performances, with Billings turning in a 3½ minute PR running 29:21. Team scoring was rounded out by Caitlin LaFountain who ran a personal best of 33:10 and Sophie Del Valle who also ran a personal best of 33:31.
The women’s team ran their way into 2nd place overall in the conference behind Hampshire College, the highest finish in program history.
In the Men’s 8K race, sophomore Sam Gerken ran a personal best of 30:47 for the season, good enough for 10th place overall in the conference. Gerken was not the only standout performance on the day for the Moose as junior Dustin Simpson-Bragg ran to a season personal best of 31:22 as well as sophomore Walker Thomas who ran to a season PR of 34:48.
Shev Hardy, Caleb Fortin, and Adam Bohlen rounded out the men’s team helping the men finish 4th overall as a team in the conference.
NEXT UP
Both the men's and women's cross country teams will be heading to the USCAA National Cross Country Championship in Virginia Beach on November 8-10th. This will be the first time in program history for the men's team and second time for the women’s team!