STANDISH, Maine – The Regis College men's cross country team finished in fifth place at the 2018 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Cross Country Championships, hosted Sunday by Saint Joseph's College on the SJC Cross Country Trail.
Jovan Sematimba (Burlington, Mass.) and Sean Toomey (Salem, N.H.) completed the eight-kilometer course in the same time of 29:31, with Sematimba finishing in 17th place and Toomey ending up in 18th place. Both runners averaged 5:57 per mile as they led the Pride contingent.
Shane Romanchick (Trumbull, Conn.) was the next Regis runner to cross the finish line, posting a time of 31:09 to finish in 33rd place. Nicholas Sahagian (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) was close behind in 35th place with a time of 31:16, followed by Christian Hendricks (Edgewater, Md.), competing in his first collegiate race and ending up in 38th place at 31:30.
Gustavo Novelle-Ruddy (Boston, Mass.), named to the GNAC All-Sportsmanship Team, completed his first conference championship meet in 40th place in 31:43, just ahead of teammate JJ Pedersen (Milford, Conn.) in 41st place in 31:44. Matt Sowden (Scituate, R.I.) finished the course with a time of 34:58, ending up in 63rd place.
As a team, the Pride finished in fifth place, ahead of Johnson & Wales, Lasell, and Rivier. Colby-Sawyer won the conference title in its first year as a GNAC member with 28 points, well ahead of second place Suffolk with 64 points.
Regis will return to Maine in two weeks for the NCAA Division III New England Regional Championships, hosted by Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, Saturday, Nov. 10. The men's eight-kilometer race is scheduled to begin at 12 p.m.