Hopkinton, N.H. – Junior Chris Davitt (Delmar, N.Y./Bethlehem) placed sixth to lead the Le Moyne College men's cross country team to a 10th-place finish at the Northeast-10 Conference Championship on Sunday at Hopkinton State Fairgrounds. Sophomore Eva Keohane (Brewerton, N.Y./Central Square) placed 10th to lead the women's team to a seventh-place finish.

On the men's side, Southern Connecticut State University won its first conference championship with 50 points after having five of the top 19 runners. Stonehill College, last year's winner, finished in second place with 57 points after three Skyhawks placed in the top five. American International College was three points back in third with 60 points, while Southern New Hampshire University tallied 91 points to place fourth. Merrimack College recorded 152 points to round out the top five teams. The Dolphins registered 324 points to finish in 10th place. Leakey Kipkosgei from American International won his third consecutive individual conference championship with a time of 24:22.11 to give the Yellow Jackets their 10th straight individual champion.

Stonehill College won its 10th consecutive conference championship on the women's side and its 17th in the last 19 years with 20 total points after having five of the top nine runners. Merrimack College moved up one place from last year to place second with 89 points after having two of the top eight finishers. Assumption College finished in the top three for the third straight year with 145 points to place third. The College of Saint Rose finished fourth with 164 points, while Adelphi University placed fifth with 168 points. The Dolphins registered a seventh-place finish after totaling 176 points. Stonehill's Anna Lastra won the individual conference championship by registering a time of 21:57.39.

By virtue of their finishes, Le Moyne and Saint Rose split the two cross country points in the year-long "Upstate Challenge" between the Dolphins and Golden Knights. The Golden Knights earned the women's point, while the Dolphins captured the men's point. Through seven of the 16 sports, the Dolphins hold a 4-3 lead over the Golden Knights.
 
In the men's race, Davitt earned his first career Northeast-10 Conference All-Conference honors by landing on the first team after navigating the eight-kilometer course in 25:10.45 to place sixth among the 151 competitors. Davitt, who posted an improvement of 16 places and 47.41 seconds from last year, registered the best finish by a Dolphin as well as the first to earn NE10 First Team honors since Matt Ilardi placed sixth in 1998. Senior Griffin Klein (Fair Haven, N.Y./Red Creek) was the second Dolphin to finish by placing 63rd in 26:57.91, which is 3.76 seconds faster than last year. Freshmen Trevor Kline (Verona, N.Y./Vernon-Verona-Sherrill) and Ben Zinger (Liverpool, N.Y./Liverpool) placed 110th and 111th, respectively, with times of 28:55.91 and 28:57.79. Junior Christian Davis (Oswego, N.Y./Oswego) rounded out the team's five scorers by placing 114th in 28:59.91.

Keohane, who earned Northeast-10 Conference Third Team All-Conference accolades last year, moved up to the NE10 Second Team this year after completing the six-kilometer course 10th in 22:30.83, an improvement of 11.09 seconds from last year's 18th-place finish. Senior Brittney Mack (Poestenkill, N.Y./Averill Park) earned NE10 Third Team accolades after jumping 10 places in the standings to finish 17th in the 144-member field in 22:39.31, an improvement of 36.54 seconds from last year. Sophomore Haleigh Pascual (Manlius, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius) recorded a time of 23:50.59 to place 44th, improvements of 0.63 seconds and three spots. Junior Jordan Sloan (Central Square, N.Y./Bishop Grimes) tallied a time of 24:19.63 to place 59th, an improvement of 0.55 seconds and four spots from a year ago, while classmate Jill Stagnitta (Liverpool, N.Y./Liverpool) finished 70th in 24:54.05, improvements of 43 places and 1:49.96 from last year.

Le Moyne is back in action on Saturday, November 17 at the NCAA East Regional at Bethpage State Park in Farmingdale, N.Y.