The St. Lawrence University men's cross country team, ranked sixth in the nation, claimed the 2010 NYSCTC Championship on Saturday in Saratoga Springs, NY. The Saints, led by senior captain Dan Ramsey, won the state crown with 19 points, the lowest total in the event's history.
The previously low for points on the men's side was 20 by Alfred University in 1959, but the Saints bettered that mark thanks to five top-7 finishes including a victory by Ramsey, who was named the NYSCTC Runner of the Year for the second consecutive season. St. Lawrence also posted the fastest team performance ever at Saratoga State Park, with head coach John Newman earning NYSCTC Coach of the Year honors for the second straight campaign.
"We executed our race plan today, especially with our top-5 runners," said Coach Newman. "This allowed us to emerge at the front of the race by the 4-mile mark after a fast start. This was definitely our best team race ever at Saratoga, and we had both great conditions and tremendous support from alumni, teammates and parents."
Ramsey earned the victory with a time of 25:12, a mere two seconds ahead of junior teammate John Johnston, who was the runner-up in 25:14. Though Rochester's Brian Lang and James Vavra took third and sixth place, respectively, the Scarlet and Brown clinched the title with fourth, fifth and seventh place showings.
Junior Steve Kiplagat finished in fourth place overall in 25:27, while classmate Seth Jackson was one spot back in fifth in 25:31. Sophomore Sam Rakoc closed out St. Lawrence's scoring in seventh with a time of 25:35, capping the team's points at 19.
Also racing for St. Lawrence at the 2010 NYSCTC Championship were Tim Liponis (20th, 26:15), captain Chris Funch (23rd, 26:29), Alex Calderwood (27th, 26:37), Ian Schofield (31st, 26:44) and first-year student Brendan Courneene (37th, 27:05).
The Saints finished ahead of the University of Rochester (38) and Rensselaer (79), while Hamilton (149) and Ithaca (157) rounded out the top-5 team finishes.
St. Lawrence will be in action again next Saturday in Geneva, NY at the 2010 Liberty League Championships as the team tries to capture its 17th straight conference title. The men's race is slated to begin at 12:00pm.
