PSC XC Men Win YSCC Championships; Women place Second
(held 10/22/2011)

Team captains, Kyle Dash (JR: Java Village, NY/Pioneer HS), Matt Piper (SR: Morrisville, VT/Peoples Academy) and Ashley Rokjer (JR: Berlin, NY/Berlin HS) paced the men’s and women’s teams respectively for a win for the men, and a second place finish for the women in the Yankee Small College Conference (YSCC) Championships held at NHTI in Concord, NH on Saturday, October 22nd.

The PSC Bobcats had a great performance from the men’s team, with four making the All Conference Team, including Dash, Piper, Eric Kowalik, and Alex Kelchner. Kyle Dash won the meet for the second year in a row, finishing the 8K course in 26:22. Piper placed third overall with a time of 27:45, and Kowalik was fifth in 28:16. Paul Smith’s College had eight finishers in under 30 minutes, and scored 16 points for the team victory. The best a cross country team can do is sweep the top five spots for a low score of fifteen.

Eighteen men from Paul Smith’s took part, with fourteen finishing under 32 minutes. NHTI placed second with 46 points, followed by the University of Maine – Machias with 85 points.

Ashley Rokjer paced the Lady Bobcats with a time of 24:34 over the 6K course, placing third; followed by Jessie Husmann (FR: Rochester, MN/Rochester Century HS) in fourth with a time of 24:51. Lea Anthony placed twelfth overall in 26:49, followed by Skyler Wysocki in 27:19, Alexandra Hanlon in 27:25, and Cari Brazie in 27:41. The PSC women scored 37 points to place second to NHTI by a mere two points, followed by the University of Maine – Machias with 54 points. Paige Wiechman of Machias was the women’s victor, with a time of 22:32.

Other YSCC schools taking part included Unity College, the University of Maine – Augusta, Vermont Technical College, Hampshire College, Nashua Community College, the College of St. Joseph.

Paul Smith’s College women’s team should be back at full strength for the USCAA XC nationals. Nationals will be hosted by Paul Smith’s College at Mount VanHoevenberg on Friday, November 11th. There are expected to be nearly 300 runners from 30 colleges/ universities across the country. Strong collegiate runners will be coming from New Mexico, Arizona, Florida, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Virginia, Michigan, Washington, as well as the mid-Atlantic and New England states.

Jim Tucker
XC Coach; and Athletic Director