NAC XC Championship at LSC

Homefield advantage is not always the key to victory.

The men's and women's cross country team came up short at the North Atlantic Conference Championship Race.

Only three points separated the first place New England College and second place Lyndon State College once the race was all set and done.

"We had the tools and the runners to win this race," said junior runner Jimmy Bielli about the men's team.

On the bright side, Coach Chris Ummer sees a lot of positive things that came out of this race.

"We ran really well, and a lot of our runners had their best races of the season," Ummer said.

Ummer does not believe that weather played any part in the performances of the runners.

"Everyone ran under the same conditions," Ummer said.  "You have to deal with the weather and course conditions, but everyone was out there under the same circumstances," Ummer said.

This year, Lyndon hosted the NAC Championship race.

"We know the ins and outs of this course.  But at the same time, you can wake up later and roll out of bed and not prepare the same way that you would as if it were on the road, and that could hurt you," Bielli said.

Senior Mike Farmer finished first for the Hornets and third overall. Following Farmer was freshman Tyler Scheibenpflug who finished fifth overall.  Junior Josh Grant, junior Joe Kill, junior Jimmy Bielli finished ninth, tenth, and eleventh respectively.

Farmer and Scheibenpflug received All-NAC First Team honors.  Grant, Kill, and Bielli received All-NAC Honors along with senior Wildens Fils, sophomore Kenedi Hall, and senior Craig Johnson.

The women's cross country team finished their season strong and many runners had their best race of the season.

Junior Gabrielle Mathewson gave it her all for this race.

"It was definitely one of my best races all season," Mathewson said.

Ummer was very proud of the way the team raced.

"This was their best performance of the season as a team," Ummer said.

Mathewson was glad the team got to run at home this year, because of the advantage of knowing the course.

"It really makes a big difference to know every part of the course," Mathewson said. "Knowing every root, branch, and part of the course can save you time from falling or slowing down, so it was a big advantage to us."

Mathewson said that this race is now behind the team and they are looking foward to the next race, which is the Eastern Conference Athletic Championship race.

"We are going to try and use the ECAC race as a warm up for the NCAA regionals," Mathewson said.

Senior Allyne O'Hearn finished first for the women.  Follwed by O'Hearn was junior Cassie Tricou, sophmore Ani Pytlewski, senior Holly Reed, and junior Leah Morgan who all finished eleventh, fourteenth, twenty-seventh and twenty-ninth respectively.

For the women's team, O'Hearn, Tricou, and Pytlewski all earned All-NAC Second Team Honors.