Cross Country | 11/10/2024 12:11:00 AM

LAKELAND, Fla.- The Ave Maria University cross country teams continued to showcase themselves as one of the top cross country programs in The Sun Conference on Saturday, finishing second in both genders at The Sun Conference Championships, held at Holloway Park in Lakeland. Nine Gyrenes earned All-Conference honors at Holloway Park, and a school record five will head to the national championships.

The men raced first at Holloway Park, with three Gyrenes finishing in the top seven to earn First Team All-Conference honors. Christopher Hermann led AMU with a time of 26:39.1 to finish fifth, with Michael Long following just over a second later at 26:40.2. Samuel Paga rounded out that top seven with a time of 26:40.5, and all three Gyrene first teamers will head to nationals. 

Sebastian Shea finished fourth among Gyrenes at 27:36.2 and earned Second Team All-SUN honors, while Connor Coyle rounded out AMU's team score with a time of 28:18.3.

SCAD-Savannah won the team title on the men's side, topping the Gyrenes by 16 points for the conference championship. The Bees placed three runners in the top four and four in the top ten to win the conference. In the individual race, St. Thomas sophomore Martin Ahlstrom finished almost 20 seconds ahead of his nearest competition, winning with a time of 25:45.0.

All five Ave Maria women that contributed to the team score earned All-Conference honors, with one on the first team and four on the second team. On the first team, Madison Thomas led the way with a time of 23:56.1. Thomas will be joined at nationals by Sofia Torres, who placed eighth overall by crossing the finish line at 23:57.8.

Three other Gyrenes finished in the top 14, starting with Felicity Foxhoven and her time of 24:24.7 on the 6k course. AMU's team score was rounded out by Lily Burke (24:47.3), who placed 12th overall, and Anne Scheck (25:13.9), who placed 14th.

For the second year in a row, SCAD-Savannah won the women's championship by sweeping the top five spots in the race, logging a perfect score of 15 points. The Sun Conference Runner of the Year was given to SCAD's Maddy Walter-Sherretts, who won the race with a time of 22:27.7, which was more than 20 seconds faster than any other runner in the field.

Additionally, Ave Maria swept the Champions of Character Awards in the conference. In addition to his All-Conference honors, Hermann was named Champion of Character on the men's side, while Emma Perreault was honored as the women's Champion of Character.

Ave Maria's five individual qualifiers advance to the NAIA Women's Cross Country National Championship, held this year at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia, Missouri.