By Cameron Eggeman, Director of Sports Information
The UMF Women’s Cross Country team takes first place at the NAC Championships on Oct. 28, after scoring 41 points with three runners in the top 10.
The 5K championship race included 58 total runners representing eight schools.
The women’s team runner-up was Husson with 46 points, while UMaine-Presque Isle was third with a score of 66 followed by NVU-Lyndon (104), Maine Maritime (106), SUNY Canton (152), and Thomas (184).
Zosia Prince of NVU-Lyndon won the NAC individual title with a time of 20:49.64 — 30 seconds ahead of runner up Lindsey Joliat of Husson. UMF’s Julia Labbe finished third in 21:30.44, while fellow Farmington teammate Chloe Kenyon finished fourth with a time of 21:32.88. UMaine Presque Isle’s Valentine Gegiovanni placed fifth in 21:39.52, and Julia Glisson of Husson was sixth in 21:40.17. Isabelle Jackson of Husson and UMF’s Gwen Baker rounded out the top eight, with times of 21:52.59 and 21:53.64, respectively.
Women’s Cross Country placed five student-athletes on the 2018 North Atlantic Conference All-Conference teams, including First Team honorees Julia Labbe, Chloe Kenyon, and Gwen Baker and Second Team honorees Abigail Hunt and Shayna Frost. Chloe Kenyon was also named to the NAC Sportsmanship Team.
“I am very proud of our student-athletes and their accomplishments this year,” said UMF Head Coach Joe DiSalvo. “Winning a conference championship requires a full team effort, and each and every runner stepped up and ran strong. They worked very hard throughout the entire season, and watching them succeed as a team was truly gratifying, especially in my first year at UMF.”
UMF Women’s Soccer defeats Thomas College 3-1 on Nov. 4 to win their second North Atlantic Conference Championship in program history.
The Beavers struck first after a scoreless opening 28 minutes when McKenna Brodeur dribbled up the right wing and fired a shot from just inside the box into the left side of the goal for the 1-0 lead going into halftime.
UMF extended the lead four minutes into the second when a Brodeur free-kick found Hadlee Yescott, who finished the score to make it 2-0. Thomas answered back just over a minute later when Cassie Contigiani buried a penalty kick after she was fouled in the box to pull Thomas back within one. Lydia Roy scored the insurance goal in the 78th minute to give Farmington the 3-1 victory. Callie Hammer stopped one of two shots on goal in the program’s second NAC Championship since 2003.
“I’m honored to be able to coach this group of women who showed confidence, resilience, and passion every day this season,” said Head Coach Molly Wilke ’06. “They never gave up on our preseason vision of being NAC Champions this year.”
Roy was named NAC Tournament MVP, while Brodeur, Yescott, and Ashley Gleason were named to the All-Tournament Team.
In a vote of the NAC coaches and Faculty Athletic Representatives, Roy also was named the 2018 NAC Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Roy, who has earned highest honors Dean’s List for all six semesters thus far, maintains a 3.88 GPA as an Applied Mathematics major and is completing an internship with the Maine Department of Health and Human Services as a data analyst. She also collected First Team All-Conference honors for her prowess on the pitch, scoring eight goals (all in conference games) and setting up five more for 21 points. She started in all 18 goals, nailed the only penalty kick she took, and scored two game-winning goals for the Beavers in the 2018 campaign.
