CHICOPEE, Mass. – Johnson & Wales University placed four runners in the top five in the men's race while the University of New England (UNE) had three runners finish in the top five in the women's race to help pace their respective teams to victory in Saturday afternoon's Blazers Invitational cross country event at Chicopee Memorial State Park.

In the men's 8-kilometer race, Johnson & Wales posted a team score of 20 to claim top honors with UNE placing second with a combined score of 47. American International College (AIC) finished third with 79 points, Lasell College tallied 120 points to finish fourth, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) notched 135 points for fifth place, Johnson State College finished sixth with 144 points and Elms College placed seventh with 179 points. Newbury College, Framingham State University, Eastern Nazarene College and Hampshire College did not register a team score.

Johnson & Wales' James Vance (Newton, Mass.) was the top overall finisher for the men, clocking a time of 27:28. The Wildcats also claimed second and third place with Jeff Hartman (Osseo, Minn.) registering a time of 27:56 and Greg Redfield (Penfield, N.Y.) finishing in a time of 28:10.

In the women's 5-kilometer race, UNE scored a total of 25 points to capture first place honors, Johnson & Wales finished second (93) and AIC placed third (104). Framingham State earned fourth place honors with a score 126 while Lasell narrowly out-legged St. Joseph College (Conn.) for fifth place honors as the Lasers posted a 143 and the Blue Jays a 144. MCLA finished seventh (172), Mount Ida College came in eighth (178), Wheelock College (225) placed ninth, Curry College finished 10th (246), Eastern Nazarene finished 11th (302), Elms earned 12th place (308) and Bay Path College notched 13th place with 375 points. Newbury, Johnson State and Hampshire did not record team scores.

AIC's MJ Ohoueu (Paris, France) secured top individual honors for the women running to a time of 19:50. UNE's Colleen Ahern (Salem, Conn.) was just behind with a 19:58 to garner second place honors while teammate Jess Partlow (Hopkinton, N.H.) (20:28) came in third.

Elms' freshman Jesse Zina (Ludlow, Mass.) was the Blazers' top individual finisher on the men's side clocking a time of 34:53. Sophomore Brendan Warren (Arlington, Mass.) finished in a time of 37:51, freshman Patrick Noenickx (Scituate, Mass.) registered a time of 40:25), senior Nick Whitman (Florence, Mass.) notched a 40:43 and junior Benjamin Kronlund (Longmeadow, Mass.) secured a 41:34 to round out Elms' five scoring runners.

On the women's side, junior Jennifer Cicero (Chicopee, Mass.) was the Blazers' top individual runner with a time of 26:09. Junior Becka Boisseau (Chicopee, Mass.) finished the course in 27:15, freshman Gabrielle Calvanese (Agawam, Mass.) sprinted to a 27:24, freshman Kerry Ashe (Springfield, Mass.) notched a 30:31 and freshman Sarah Jane Dyer (Hinsdale, Mass.) recorded a 31:03 to give Elms its five scoring runners.

The Colonels were led by senior Kendra Lapierre (Hollis, NH), who finished in 27th place with a time of 23:31. Other Curry finishers were junior Kelly Johnson (Burlington, Mass.), 25:04 (43rd),senior Kimberly DeCosta (Hudson, NH), 25:44 (51st), sophomore Amanda Ledin (Stoughton, MA), 25:52 (52nd), senior Lindsey Sheehan (Salem, NH) 33:14 (72nd), junior Sarah Nix (Waltham, MA), 33:55 (75th), and freshman Alexandria Hislop (Pembroke, MA), 36:42 (79th).

Curry returns to action on Saturday October 2, heading to Wenham, Mass. to participate in the Pop Crowell Invitational at Gordon College beginning at 11:45 a.m.

(Release courtesy of Elms College Sports Information)