NORTHFIELD, Vt. - The New England College men's and women's cross-country teams participated in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) cross country championships on Sunday on the campus of Norwich University. 

The men's 8-kilometer race kicked off the day at noon, and NEC's lone runner, junior Anthony Dibattista (Merrimack, N.H.), completed the course in 45:09 to finish in 63rd place. The Monks of St. Joseph's College of Maine claimed first place as a team.  

At 1:30 PM, the women's 6-kilometer race began. Just as she has all season, freshman Althea LeBlanc (Derry, N.H.) led the team and finished in 17th place with a time of 25:50. Junior Amanda Ducharme (Bedford, N.H.) crossed the finish line at 27:10 to finish in 29th overall.  

Sophomore Sophia Lapointe (Salem, N.H.) and freshman Skylar Simpson (Prospect, Conn.) finished 21 seconds apart as Lapointe placed in 53rd at 32:10 and Simpson finished in 32:31 which was good for 57th. Senior Aleesa Jordan (Casco, Maine) rounded out the group with a time of 35:35 while finishing in 67th place. 

The women's team earned an accumulative 172 points to finish in 6th place among the nine teams. Emmanuel College earned the first-place team win. 

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