STANDISH, Maine – The Saint Joseph's College women's cross country team closed out the 2026 regular season with a historic performance Saturday afternoon, sweeping the top five individual places and recording a perfect team score of 15 to win the second annual Coach Dann Runnin' Monks Classic.
The performance marked the first perfect score by a Saint Joseph's women's cross country team since 2004, as all five Monk scorers crossed the finish line before the first runner from another scoring team.
Saint Joseph's finished 30 points ahead of runner-up Husson University (45) and recorded a five-runner team time of 2:07:25, averaging 25:29 over the challenging six-kilometer Saint Joseph's College XC Course.
Freshman Haley Marston (Greene, Maine) captured the individual victory in 24:56.0, leading the historic Saint Joseph's sweep. Junior
Haley Williams (Winthrop, Maine) followed in second at 25:17.9, while sophomore
Amber Pendleton (Warren, Maine) placed third in 25:23.7.
Senior Cadance Gilbert (Keene, N.H.) crossed fourth in 25:32.2, and senior
Meghan Cyr (Hampden, Maine) completed the perfect score by finishing fifth in 26:15.6.
NEED TO KNOW:
Saturday's perfect 15-point performance was the first by the Saint Joseph's women's cross country program since 2004 and capped a strong regular season for the Monks.
Saint Joseph's also won the Coach Dann Runnin' Monks Classic for the second consecutive year, improving from 23 points at the inaugural meet in 2025 to the lowest score possible in cross country this fall.
The Monks lowered their five-runner team time from 2:12:48 to 2:07:25, an improvement of 5 minutes, 23 seconds, while dropping their team average from 26:33 to 25:29.
The top five were separated by just 1:19.6, demonstrating the pack strength that has become a key part of Saint Joseph's success this season. Freshman
Meg Kingsley (Windham, Maine) added another top-10 finish for the Monks, placing ninth overall in 27:27.2.
Several returning runners also showed major improvement from the 2025 home meet. Williams lowered her time from 26:22.4 to 25:17.9, an improvement of 1:04.5, while Pendleton improved from 26:13.1 to 25:23.7, a drop of 49.4 seconds.
FOR THE MONKS:
- Haley Marston (Fr., Greene, Maine) – 1st, 24:56.0
- Haley Williams (Jr., Winthrop, Maine) – 2nd, 25:17.9
- Amber Pendleton (So., Warren, Maine) – 3rd, 25:23.7
- Cadance Gilbert (Sr., Keene, N.H.) – 4th, 25:32.2
- Meghan Cyr (Sr., Hampden, Maine) – 5th, 26:15.6
- Meg Kingsley (Fr., Windham, Maine) – 9th, 27:27.2
- Addison Alpers (Fr., Bristol, N.H.) – 15th, 28:28.3
- Cecilia Steele (Fr., Stark, N.H.) – 21st, 29:57.2
- Danica Patry (Fr., Berlin, N.H.) – 23rd, 30:05.1
COACH'S CORNER:
"The women continued to work together, follow our race plan, and run smart on a tough course. This is a special group that has continued to elevate our program to the next level through their hard work, commitment, and willingness to challenge each other every day. We're excited about the direction this team is heading and look forward to building on this momentum as we prepare for the conference championships," said Head Coach Mike Burleson.
UP NEXT!
With the regular season now complete, Saint Joseph's will turn its attention to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Championship on Sunday, November 1 at Colby-Sawyer College in New London, N.H. The Monks will return to the same course where they finished just four points out of first at the GNAC Preview earlier this season.
