SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Endicott College cross country teams participated in the Western New England College Invitational meet this past weekend in Springfield, Mass. Both teams had strong finishes as the women’s team finished third out of 15 teams while the men’s squad finished sixth out of 12 participating schools.

On the women’s side, the Gulls had four runners finish in the top-20 led by \#Kim Shepherd\# (Essex, Conn.) whose time of 20:33 gave her a seventh place finish. \#Holly Davis\# (Guilford, Conn.) placed ninth overall with her time of 21:00 while \#Brittaney Plante\# (Nashua, N.H.) finished 17th with a time of 21:23. \#Megan McGraw\#’s (Georgia, Vt.) time of 21:32 gave her a 19th place finish for the Gulls.

The women’s team finished third overall behind winner Salve Regina and only five points behind second-place finisher Bard College. Castelton State’s Margaret Klein took home the individual honors with her time of 19:29 with Salve’s Paige Pallotto finishing second and AIC’s Sarah Beaudoin rounding out the top three.

For the men, \#Greg Payne\# (North Attleboro, Mass.) continued to be the top finisher for the Gulls as he placed fourth with a time of 27:31. \#Sam Turner\# (Portland, Maine) and \#Tom Rofrano\# (Sayville, N.Y.) finished seconds apart in 38th and 40th place with times of 30:32 and 30:39, respectively. \#Brendan Mitchell\# (Chelmsford, Mass.) finished just inside the top-50 with his time of 30:58, good for a 44th place finish.

Overall, the Gulls finished sixth out of 12 teams. The host Western New England took home the team victory with AIC and Castelton State finishing off the top three. AIC had a pair of runners take home the top two individual times with Victor Kemboi and Julian Devanne finishing with times of 25:03 and 26:13. Bard’s Aaron Ahlstrom closed out the top three with his time of 27:28, a mere three seconds ahead of Payne.

The Blue and Green return to action on Saturday as the Gulls Wenham, Mass. for the Gordon Invitational. Both teams hit the trails at 9:00 a.m.