WINTHROP, Mass. – Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's and women's cross country runners participated in the 2024 NCAA Division III Cross Country Regional Championships on Saturday (Nov. 16). The conference was split between the East and Mideast Regionals, which were hosted by Suffolk and Connecticut College in Hopkinton, N.H. and Waterford, Conn., respectively.
The women competed in a six-kilometer race, while the men ran an eight-kilometer race.
Colby-Sawyer student-athlete Cody Thompson and Rivier student-athlete Emma McEvoy were the top GNAC competitors at the East regionals for the men and women, respectively. They were both top-50 finishers in the regional with Thompson placing 23rd in the men's 8K with a time of 25:37.52, while McEvoy was the 49th finisher in the women's 6K, clocking in at 23:46.91.
University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) student-athlete Braeden Laframboise and Norwich student-athlete Delaney Whitmarsh were the conference's top finishers at the Mideast Regionals for the men and women, respectively. Laframboise finished in 61st place in the men's 8k with a time of 26:35.60 while Whitmarsh finished in 122nd place in the women's 6k, clocking in a 25:10.10.
The best men's and women's team performances both came from the Mideast Regional, where both Norwich's Cross Country programs placed 20th (Men's) and 22nd (Women's).
The regional events that GNAC schools competed in were two of 10 the NCAA Division III Regionals held on Saturday, which will be used to determine the field for the 2024 NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships at LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute, Indiana which will be hosted by Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.
The winner of each regional receives an automatic qualifier into the national championship. The NCAA Division III Cross Country Committee will then select 22 at-large teams in each gender. Once the team competitors are determined, 70 student-athletes in each gender are selected to compete in the national championship as individuals. Those individuals are the top seven runners in each region who are not part of a qualifying team.
Thompson (23rd) and Saint Joseph's (Maine) Jacob Pelletier (30th) were named to the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Region Team based on their respective finishes (Top-35 finishers are honored).
The entire field for the men's and women's cross country championships will be announced Sunday, Nov. 17 via a 3 pm press release on NCAA.com.
ABOUT THE GREAT NORTHEAST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an NCAA Division III association made up of 16 member institutions and over 4000 student-athletes across the New England region. Founded in 1995, the GNAC annually sponsors and administers 21 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunity and community involvement in an effort to enhance the student-athlete experience.
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