Cross Country | 11/4/2023 11:45:00 AM

AVE MARIA, Fla.- The Ave Maria University cross country teams left with plenty of hardware Saturday morning at The Sun Conference Championships, held on their home course at North Park. Both Ave Maria teams finished as conference runner-up, with seven Gyrenes earning All-Conference honors and four punching their tickets to the NAIA National Championships. Additionally, head coach Alan Webb was named the conference's Men's Coach of the Year, and Lillian Brodeur was honored as the women's Champion of Character.

Samuel Paga will represent the Ave Maria men at the NAIA National Championships in Vancouver, Washington, running the third fastest time in AMU history at 26:15.91, earning First Team All-SUN honors in the process. Three other Gyrenes found their way onto the second team, as Christopher Hermann, Michael Long, and Joseph Perreault finished ninth, tenth, and eleventh. AMU's team score was rounded out by a 15th place finish from senior Adam Paga.

For the third year in a row, Southeastern's John Perez-Dunn was The Sun Conference's individual champion, running the 8k course in 25:13.78. Dunn's winning time proved to be the difference in the team race, as Southeastern won the conference title with 40 points. Ave Maria finished nine points behind the Fire, beating out SCAD by two points for the conference runner-up trophy. 

Following the race, head coach Alan Webb was honored as The Sun Conference Coach of the Year for men's cross country. Webb was selected via a vote of his fellow league coaches. In his second year at the helm, Webb guided the Gyrenes to their best finish in program history, even with the 2020 team that also placed as SUN runner-up.

Sofia Torres earned First Team All-Conference honors and qualified for the national championships with a seventh place time of 23:45.05. Felicity Foxhoven and Lily Burke will join Torres in Vancouver, placing eighth and ninth respectively to earn Second Team All-Conference honors. AMU's team score was rounded out by Madison Thomas, who placed 15th, and Lillian Brodeur, who crossed the line in 18th.

The team was marked by a cross country rarity, as SCAD-Savannah swept the top five spots, ending the meet with a perfect score of 15, a phenomenon Webb said he had only seen once or twice in his career. SUN Runner of the Year Alex Midgett led the SCAD pack, running a Sun Conference Championship record 6k time of 22:13.39. Ave Maria finished comfortably in second with 55 points, 15 points ahead of third place Southeastern.

Postrace, Lillian Brodeur was named The Sun Conference's women's cross country Champion of Character. Brodeur was nominated due to her deep faith, positivity and work ethic on and off the cross country and track teams. Head coach Alan Webb stated "She is passionate in helping her community and school thrive as a member of the "Daughters of God" household, a Student Activities Board member, an honors program member with a 3.9 GPA, and a Mother Theresa Scholar."

Paga, Torres, Foxhoven, and Burke will head to Vancouver, Washington in less than two weeks for the NAIA National Cross Country Championships. It marks the eighth consecutive year where AMU has sent at least one runner to the national championships, and ties a school record for the most runners competing at nationals. The national event is scheduled for the morning November 17 at the Fort Vancouver Historical Course.