Freshmen Saul Nunez and Trevor Levesque, both of Presque Isle, led the Owls to a 14th-place finish at the USCAA National Cross Country Meet Friday afternoon in Syracuse, N.Y.
Nunez finished the 8K course with a time of 30:11 and Levesque was right on his heels with a time of 30:23. The rookie duo each recorded their personal bests and finished 60th and 62nd, respectively, out of a field of 186 finishers.
Also registering his personal record was junior Corey Hebert, eclipsing his past best time of 31:09 at last year’s national meet. Hebert took 65th place overall.
Personal bests were the subject of the day, as each Owl runner ran their career personal record. Ron Lund of Caribou was 83rd with a time of 31:17 and Christian Lunn finished the race in 39:47, after previously setting his PR in the last race at the Maine State Meet with a time of 41:50.
Veteran coach Chris Smith could not have written a better script for his youthful squad.
“We ran exceptionally well today and Ron Lund is our MVP, giving everything he had to ensure a better finish for our team. It was all guts … I’m really proud of this group,” said Smith.
The tremendous effort from the young Owl runners bodes well for Smith and the future of his program.
“We have a great foundation right here,” he added. “We need to add talent and depth to push our runners to the next level and we are busy recruiting great athletes to add to the mix for next year.”
Women’s soccer team falls in GSAC semifinal
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — The postseason run for the University of Maine at Presque Isle Owls ended Saturday afternoon as the No. 1-seeded and defending conference champion Salem College Spirit downed the Owls 8-0 to advance to the Great South Athletic Conference championship match.
The scoring started at 17:38 when all-conference forward Tarryn Johnson converted a turnover and notched her 14th goal of the season. Ten minutes later, Jordan Lanier put home a marker assisted by Sawyer Ferguson and the Spirits never looked back, scoring three more times in the first stanza.
The Owls could only muster four shots in the match, two in each half, compared to the 37 total shots the Spirit pelted the Owl keepers with. UMPI’s Allison Lopez allowed all eight goals but had 15 saves in her 76 minutes in goal, while teammate Macie Bellanceau, of Ashland, collected a save in her 13-plus minutes of keeper action.
The Owls end the season at 4-14, but have plenty to look forward to, with so many key players who are either freshmen or sophomores. Sophomore Bethany Heald and freshman Sam Nadeau were named to the GSAC All-Conference squad, along with departing dynamo Nicole Cyr. Nadeau was joined by Lopez on the GSAC All-Freshmen team as well.
Cyr and Heald were named to the conference All-Academic team, as was senior Chelsea Lynds-Beaulieu of Presque Isle.
The previous day, the fourth-seeded Owls were able to advance with a 1-0 victory over No. 5-seeded Mills College in quarterfinal play.
Jessica Dickison of Houlton scored the winning goal on an assist from senior Jasmine Cote of Limestone and Lopez registered the first shutout of her collegiate goalkeeping career. The Owls outshot Mills College, 18-4.
Volleyball team ousted in conference quarters
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — The No. 2 seed Agnes Scott College was too much for UMPI Friday, taking a quarterfinal match 3-0 (25-10, 25-13, 25-15) at the Great South Athletic Conference volleyball tourney.
All-conference players Lauren Aiken and Shelli Sherman put the Scotties on their collective backs and carried their team to victory. Aiken had seven kills and hit at a .600 percentage, while Sherman recorded 13 service aces.
Shannon Brown led the Owls with three kills, three service aces and 12 digs, but overall the UMPI attack was non-existent against the Scotties blockers.
Katie Patenaude of Presque Isle, Hannah Boyce, and Leslie Theriault each registered two kills in the match, while Morgan Swan of Caribou tallied five assists.
