The team was led by Philip Matthews, who finished third place overall in 30 minutes, 48.6 seconds. Matthews, Logan Krahn and Ryan Chiari earned All-Conference honors for their performance. Krahn completed the 8K in 31:15 for sixth place overall while Chiari was close behind in 31:28 for seventh.

Senior captain Zack Sprott-Scribner earned eighth place in 31:31, while fellow senior Alex Cameron finished in 10th place in 33:43. Krahn, Chiari and Sprott-Scribner finished within 15 seconds of each other.

After five Bobcats finished in the top 10, the team was in fine shape for a convincing victory, winning with 29 points. Hampshire College finished in second place with 62, followed closely by Central Maine with 66 points, and Vermont Tech in fourth with 74 points. The last time the Paul Smith’s College men’s team won the YSCC Cross Country title was in 2018 at Hampshire College.

In the women’s 6K race, Paul Smith’s Wesley Burkit placed second and Ellen Haas placed third to earn All-Conference honors. Burkit and Haas led the team to a second-place finish with 42 points.

Paul Smith’s Ellen Haas accepting her All-Conference Team plaque on Saturday at the Yankee Small College Conference Cross Country Championships in Randolph Center, Vermont. (Provided photo — Jim Tucker)

Burkit’s time of 27:07 was solid, given that she was dealing with a bruise to the foot earlier in the week. Ellen’s third-place time of 27:13 was her personal best, and one position ahead of last year’s fourth-place finish on the same Vermont Tech course.

The Bobcats’ Melody Ascioti finished in 32:13 and in 12th place, while Ellie Judice placed 14th with a time of 33:10. Kianna Hanson rounded out the team’s scorers with a time of 35:35.

Albany Pharmacy won the women’s 6K with 27 points, led by conference champion, Briana Miranda who won the race in 26:09. Albany Pharmacy’s runners formed a nice cohesive pack that ran together this season, and it paid off nicely for the Panthers in this year’s victory. Paul Smith’s came in second with 42 points, followed by NHTI with 59 and Hampshire College with 91 points.

The Paul Smith’s College XC team will look forward to returning to Virginia Beach for USCAA Cross Country Nationals on Nov. 11. Competing at Small College Nationals is a major highlight for our collegiate cross country runners as they get to see how well they will do with dozens of other collegiate athletes from America’s small colleges and universities.

Runners take off at the start of the Yankee Small College Conference Cross Country Championships in Randolph Center, Vermont on Saturday. (Provided photo — Jim Tucker)