Cross Country Team Wins

Yankee Small College Conference

The Paul Smith’s College men’s team won the 2022 Yankee Small College Conference (YSCC) Championship, led by Philip Matthews, who finished third in 30:48.6. Matthews, Logan Krahn (6th place) and Ryan Chiari (7th place) all earned All-Conference honors for their performance. Logan completed the 8K in 31:15, with Ryan close behind in 31:28.

Captain Zack Sprott – Scribner placed 8th in 31:31, and fellow senior, Alex Cameron finished in 10th place in 33:43. Krahn, Chiari and Sprott-Scribner finished within 15 seconds of one another and with five Bobcats finishing in the top 10, the team was in fine shape for a convincing victory, winning with 29 points. Hampshire College finished in second place with 62, followed closely by Central Maine with 66 points, and Vermont Tech in fourth with 74 points.

The last time the Paul Smith’s College men’s team won the YSCC XC title was in 2018 at Hampshire College, and this year’s win was similar in many respects. Although neither the 2018 or the 2022 men’s teams had a superlative star, both teams had several hard working runners who worked very well together to improve over the course of their respective season to earn the YSCC titles.

A dozen members of the team competed for the Paul Smith’s College men, and although the top five were the team scorer’s at the conference championships, there were several times as the season moved forward that other members of the team ranked among the top five due to illness, injuries, or academic obligations to other members of the team.

Wesley Burkit placed second and Ellen Haas placed third to earn All-Conference honors in the women’s 6K race, and led the team to a second place finish with 42 points. Burkit’s time of 27:07 was solid, given that Wes was dealing with a bruise to the foot earlier in the week. Ellen’s third place time of 27:13 was her personal best, and one position ahead of last year’s 4th place finish over the same Vermont Tech course. Melody Ascioti finished in 32:13 and in 12th place, while Ellie Judice placed 14th with a time of 33:10. Kianna Hanson rounded out the team scoring with a time of 35:35.

Albany Pharmacy won the women’s 6K with 27 points, led by Conference Champion, Briana Miranda who won in 26:09. Albany Pharmacy’s runners formed a nice cohesive pack that ran together this season, and it paid off nicely for the Panthers in this year’s victory. Paul Smith’s came in second with 42 points, followed by NHTI with 59 and Hampshire College with 91 points.

The Paul Smith’s College XC team traveled to Virginia Beach for USCAA XC Nationals in November. Competing at Small College Nationals is a major highlight for our collegiate cross country runners as they get to see how well they will do with dozens of other collegiate athletes from America’s small colleges and universities. The men’s team finished just off the podium in fourth place, just 15 points behind third place Bluefield State (WV). The women placed seventh at the USCAA Nationals 6k course in Chesapeake, VA.