The season has come to an end for the men’s and women’s soccer teams and the volleyball teams at the University of Maine at Presque Isle, while members of the cross country squads are now preparing for a final meet in Virginia on Nov. 10.
Women’s cross country
In their second appearance in the North Atlantic Conference Championships at Farmington on Saturday, the Owls improved on their Maine State Championship performance at Bowdoin College two weeks earlier, finishing 10th overall.
Their one point deficit to Thomas College at states was overcome as they finished 10 points ahead of their rivals from Waterville. Even though the top four Owls performances were predictable, it was the personal best time posted by Jennie Sanborn on a significantly tougher course that earned the Owls the position over Thomas. Sanborn’s time of 34:20 placed her 93rd overall.
Colby Sawyer repeated as NAC champs with the low score of 43 points. The individual race winner was New England College’s Abby Shafer in at 19:19.
Emmy Churchill was UMPI’s team leader again as she finished 36th out of the 95 runners, coming in at 24:29. She was followed by Chenoa Jackson (51st in 25:41), Kendra Silvers (58th in 26:14), Elise Gidde (85th in 30:19), Sanborn and Sarina Raposo (94th in 38:03).
The Owls’ bid to attend the USCAA National Championships in Virginia Beach, Virginia, fell short due to not posting strong enough team finishes late in the season. Churchill has met the internal, university set standard and will make the trip for the Nov. 10 race.
Men’s cross country
The UMPI men’s cross country team placed eighth out of 11 teams represented at the North Atlantic Conference Championships on Saturday in Farmington.
The Owls bested Johnson State, Green Mountain and New England College and were just 26 points behind seventh-place Lyndon State. The team ran in a tight pack and posted strong individual times to solidify its position.
Colby Sawyer was again the best in the conference, easily outdistancing second place Castleton 37-83. Castleton’s Grandon Smith cruised the 8K course in 26:24 to win the race.
Saul Nunez was first in for the Owls at 33:11 and was 38th overall. Teammate Kyle Davis was only 27 seconds behind Nunez at 33:38 and came in 40th. Jesse Gonzalez overcame recurring calf tightness and ran the race in 34:24, while Andrew Hunt came in at 34:41, good enough for 47th position.
Those four were spread by only 90 seconds to set the initial scoring up for Danny Gillotti to close it out with a hard-fought 63rd place finish at 36:22.
The Owls as a team are now preparing for the USCAA National Championships in Virginia Beach on Nov. 10.
Women’s soccer
The UMPI women’s soccer team lost by scores of 4-0 to Fisher College both Saturday and Sunday at Medford, Massachusetts, and ended its season with a 1-12 record
Amanda Santiago scored a goal and assisted on the other three goals in Saturday’s win by the Falcons. UMPI goalkeeper Allie Lopez finished with 18 saves.
On Sunday, Julie Schojan scored three goals and assisted on another as Fisher dominated again. The Falcons outshot the Owls 34-0. Lopez collected 19 saves in the match.
Last Tuesday, UMPI was blanked by UM-Fort Kent, 5-0, in a match played at Fort Kent. The Owls were outshot 37-2. Taylor Howe handled the goalkeeping chores for UMPI and collected 22 saves.
Men’s soccer
The University of Maine at Presque Isle men’s soccer team finished off regular season play on the road as they travelled north to UM-Fort Kent last Tuesday. The Bengals collected an easy 8-0 victory.
UMFK dominated and the scoring came early and often as the Bengals put up five goals in the first half and scored three more within the first few minutes of the second half before relaxing their pressure. Lewis Cockburn netted three goals for the winners.
The loss gave the Owls a final record of 4-12.
Volleyball
The Owls’ volleyball team saw their season come to an end Saturday. They traveled to the University of Southern Maine in Gorham and fell to both Eastern Connecticut State and the host Huskies. The Owls dropped both matches by scores of 3-0.
The Owls would hang tough early against ECS but eventually fell by scores of 25-20, 25-18 and 25-12. Miranda Washinawatok of UMPI ended the match with 10 kills and 12 digs, while Maddi Thweatt added nine digs to the defensive effort. Brittney Harper collected 17 assists in the loss.
The Huskies would convert 43 kills on their way to a sweep over the Owls by scores of 25-22, 25-11 and 25-18.
Thweatt set the pace offensively with eight kills. Brooke Franklin and Washinawatok each tallied five, while Washinawatok added nine digs. Ashlon Stroub contributed to the defensive effort, digging out eight balls, and Harper ended with 15 assists.
The Owls went 11-22 and had their best record since 2011. This year’s team more than doubled its win total from a season ago.
