DeChristoforo led the Raiders in the GNAC Championships

DORCHESTER, Mass. - The 17th running of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Cross Country Championship took place at the nationally renowned Franklin Park course on Saturday, October 29th. Johnson & Wales University captured both the men's and women's team championships, marking the second consecutive year that the Wildcats have claimed both titles.

Emerson College and Emmanuel College played co-hosts to the 2011 Championship, which was held in the Boston area for the first time. Poor weather in the days preceding the meet caused for a few slight course modifications for the safety of the student-athletes. The fourteen GNAC member institutions made the easy race-day adjustments and the two meets went off without a hitch.

The women's 5k race featured the Wildcats edging out runner-up Emmanuel College to claim their second-straight and fifth overall GNAC Cross Country Championship. JWU finished with a team total of 64 points. The Saints locked up second place with 72 points, while the first-year varsity program at Simmons College surprised the field by racing to a third place team finish with 81 points.

Saint Joseph's College (Me.) freshman Amber Dostie (Standish, Me.) cruised to a 1st place win and claimed both Runner of the Year and Rookie of the Year honors. Dostie paced the field of 126 runners and finished the 5k race in 19:45. Johnson & Wales junior Laura Furaro (North Warren, N.J.) improved on her 3rd place finish in 2010 to finish 2nd this year in a time of 20:24. Saint Joseph College (Conn.) sophomore Julie Pattyson (Seymour, Conn.) raced to a 3rd place time of 20:53. Simmons freshman Shelly Potter (York, Me.) paced the Sharks with her 4th place finish in 20:54. Emmanuel rookie Ameena Dye (Syracuse, N.Y.) claimed 5th place with a time of 20:57.

Along with the top-five, Lasell's Meghan Missett (Lowell, Mass.), Emmanuel's Joslyn DelSignore (Taunton, Mass.), Emerson's Heather Hoglund (Groton, Mass.), Simmons' Moriah Cohen (Bennington, Vt.) and Norwich's Mallory Clark (Homer City, Pa.) each earned GNAC All-Conference honors with their top-ten finishes.

Rivier sophomore Laura DeChristoforo (Burlington, MA) crossed the finish line at 24:14, good for a 46th place finish out of a field of 126.

Teammates Althea Sacco (Colrain, MA), Christine Cyr (Westbrook, ME) and Luz Fernandez (Manchester, NH) were able to finish the race with times of 25:09, 27:24 and 29:03 respectively.

Juniors Brandi Page (Epping, NH) and Sarah Fronckwicz (Farmingdale, NY) checked in back to back, 32:36 and 32:43 to round out the team of six for the Raiders. Rivier had a team finish of 11th in the race.

After being voted the GNAC Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year in 2010, Emmanuel Head Coach Tony DaRocha was selected the 2011 GNAC Women's Coach of the Year.