DELHI, New York (Nov. 2nd, 2024) - The University of Maine at Presque Isle concluded its 2024 XC season on Saturday as the Owls laced it up for the North Atlantic Conference Championships hosted by SUNY Delhi in Delhi, N.Y., at The College Golf Course.
Big improvements for multiple runners highlighted the Owls biggest race of the year.
UMPI's men's team earned a seventh-place spot on the final team leaderboard in the 8K championship race scoring 186 points, while the women were again guided by freshman
Angeline Beede posting a 30:28 mark (37th-place) in the 6K championship race. Beede was three minutes faster than her previous PR.
Junior
Westley Dyer was the Owl's top finisher for the men yet again, collecting a 28:47 effort which is good for a huge 46-second PR, topping his previous best of 29:33. Dyer's time put him in 16th-place overall individually, missing out on Second Team All-NAC by just one spot.
Dyer guided the Owl men all season and was supported at NAC championships by three seasonal and lifetime best performances by freshmen
David Gustin (33:45, 36th-place),
Isiah Mitchell (36:56, 42nd-place) &
Hector Perez (37:24, 43rd-place).
Beede may have led the Owl women, but the entire crew used each other throughout the entire race to motivate and help their teammates. Junior
Serena Lufkin was right behind Beede coming in at 30:47 (39th-place), followed by sophomore
Milaya Buchanan's 31:30 (43rd-place) effort and true freshman
Avery VonKadich's 34:16 (45th-place) showing. VonKadich saw the largest single race jump in improvement this season for the entire program as she was nearly three minutes and 40 seconds faster than her best mark to this point.
The NAC XC championships concludes the 2024 regular season for the UMPI Owls, the first under head coach Ray Putnam. The momentum heading into the 2025 outdoor track & field season is positive, Putnam will assist head track & field coach McKinley Ward-La Salle as the two look to build on the successful finish to the XC season.
You can follow the latest news and information on the UMPI track & field/XC program online at owls.umpi.edu and on Instagram & X at @umpitrackfield.
