Brookville, N.Y. – Redshirt junior Sophia Bisognano (Albany, N.Y./Colonie) finished in 24th place and redshirt junior Matt Bartolotta (Syracuse, N.Y./West Genesee) placed 34th to lead the Le Moyne College women's and men's cross country teams to eighth-place finishes at the Northeast Conference Championships on Saturday on the campus of LIU.

"This was a tough meet," said head coach Robin Wheeless. "It was an honor to be the first Le Moyne team to compete in an NEC Championship. Our seniors finished their last conference championship cross country meets with strong races. It's exciting to have freshmen on our team up there so far. That points to a bright future. We have a lot of work to do in the coming year to raise our game and move up in the conference. These freshmen will see a lot of growth in themselves and in our team before they graduate."

Stonehill College, in its second year in the conference, claimed the College's first NEC championship in any sport by totaling 61 points on the women's side after having three of the top-10 finishers. Central Connecticut State place second with 67 points, ending its run of five consecutive conference championships. Saint Francis University was just four points back in third place after having two of the top seven finishers. The Dolphins finished in eighth place with 204 points. Merrimack's Ava Mahoney topped the 81-member field with a time of 18:28.7.

Bisognano navigated the five-kilometer course in 19:53.9 to place 24th. Junior Anita Jepchirchir (Eldoret, Kenya/The Kenya High School) finished in 26th place by recording a mark of 20:06.4. Freshman Mackenzie Ples (Lowville, N.Y./Lowville) registered a time of 21:44.1 to place 56th. Sophomore Alexandra Jacob (North Syracuse, N.Y./Cicero-North Syracuse) was 72nd in 23:53.1, while freshman Amanda Lowenguth (Webster, N.Y./Webster Thomas) was two spots back in 24:53.2.

Central Connecticut State won the men's team championship for the 11th time with 19 points after having the top two finishers and five of the top seven. Merrimack College finished in second place with 65 points after recording finishes 11 through 15. Stonehill College was third with 75 points after having a pair of finishers in the top-nine. The Dolphins recorded 213 points to place eighth. Central Connecticut's James Sullivan won the individual championship with a mark of 25:12.7 to top his closest competitor by eight seconds.

Bartolotta completed the eight-kilometer course in 27:32.5 to place 34th. Freshmen Michael Purvis (Liverpool, N.Y./Liverpool) and Tyler Cooper (Sloatsburg, N.Y./Suffern) finished in 51st and 52nd place, respectively, and were separated by just four-tenths of a second with times of 28:27.7 and 28:28.1. Redshirt junior Jeremy Plumley (Camden, N.Y./Camden) finished 58th in 28:56.2, while redshirt junior Alex Colonno (Glenmont, N.Y./Bethlehem) recorded a time of 29:27.6 to round out the team's scorers in 67th place.

The Dolphins close out the season next Sunday at the Red Flash Rally, hosted by Saint Francis University, at B & D Acres in Tyrone, Pa.