2010 Men's Cross Country Season Review

STANDISH, ME – The SJC Men's Cross Country team participated in nine events and placed fifth in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Championship meet this fall.

Head Coach Bruce Bickford mentored eight athletes during his first season at the helm for the Monks, including first-year runner Eric Friend '11 (Portland, ME/Cheverus) who paced the Royal Blue in all nine meets in 2010.

Friend narrowly missed All Conference honors with a 12th-place finish, and a 29:07 time, in the GNAC Championship on the SJC course on October 30th and placed 138th (28:56) out of 300 runners in the ECAC Championship, which was held at Colt State Park in Bristol, RI on November 6th.

The Monks improved upon their conference championship finish from a year ago, when the Royal Blue placed sixth with 165 points. St. Joe's earned 159 points this fall with the help of Friend's 12th-place effort and Jeffrey Letellier's '12 (Biddeford, ME) 33rd-place (31:38) finish. Rookie runner Jacob Kostik (Durham, ME) toured the 8K course in 33:06 to place 44th and fellow freshman Bryndon Page (Windham, ME) was close behind with a 33:10 effort, which was good for 46th overall.

Letellier improved significantly over his 2009 results and shaved at least two minutes off his Runnin' Monks, Maine Championship and GNAC Championship times from a year ago.

Third-year runner Andrew Mockler '12 (Saco, ME) participated in five meets in 2010 and posted a 34:34 time (53rd) in the GNAC Championship.

Kostik and Page enjoyed solid rookie seasons, as did first-year runner Michael Greatorex '13 (Gorham, ME). Jake McNeill '13 (Brunswick, ME), an All-GNAC runner as a freshman in 2007, returned to St. Joe's this fall but was only able to compete in one event due to injury. Look for this group of young runners to help lead the Monks to the upper echelon of the GNAC in 2011.

The end of the 2010 campaign capped the collegiate careers for seniors Eric Friend and Sean Caldwell (Marstons Mills, MA). Friend ran in nine events in one season, while Caldwell competed in 14 meets, including a pair of GNAC Championships, in two seasons as a runner for the Monks.