HUGHESVILLE, Md. – The second time on the cross country course at Oak Ridge Park went a lot better for the Gallaudet University men's team as the Bison competed at the 2024 United East Conference Championship meet here Saturday hosted by St. Mary's College of Maryland.
GU finished ninth out of 11 teams with 231 team points and a bevy of personal records in tow. Penn College repeated as conference champions for a second consecutive year with 49 team points as the Wildcats had four runners in top 11 places. The host Seahawks were second with 68 points and Penn St.-Berks was third (97).
Lancaster Bible College senior Mitchell Gray won the 8K race with a time of 26 minutes and 4.03 seconds as he crossed the finish line first in a field of 99 runners. Gray earned United East Men's Cross Country Runner of the Year honors.
Gallaudet first year
Sincere Vazquez (Hollywood, Fla.) earned third team all-conference honors with a 29th place finish and a personal record time of 31:10.06. Vazquez's time on the same course to begin the season was 37:00.9.
The top 11 runners made first team all-conference followed by the next 11 runners (second team). The third team features runners who placed 23rd-33rd. In year's past only the top 21 runners earned all-conference honors, now over 33 percent of the field earns all-conference.
Senior
Jared Spinale (Camby, Ind.) ran his final race in a Bison uniform and placed 48th overall with a time of 33:38.13. Spinale, who was honored before the race with a Senior Day plaque by the coaching staff and team, shaved over five minutes off his time from earlier this season on this course.
First year
Gabe Cadete (Nashua, N.H.) was 60th (34:41.98) followed by first year
Jay Yang (Darien, Ill.) in 72nd (37:19.16) as the pair set new personal records.
First year
Samuel Sanchez (Los Angeles, Calif.) rounded out GU's team score with his 78th place finish and personal record time of 38:01.83.
Gallaudet had three additional runners in the conference championship meet in
Awais Mughal (Islamabad, Pakistan) in 91st place (44:10.37), first year
Francois Decaux (San Nancy, France) in 97th (47:32.29) and first year
Driss Oukake (Amsterdam, Netherlands) in 99th (51:58.29). The final two Bison runners shaved off six and five minutes, respectively, from their previous personal record times.
Penn College coach Tom Leeser was named United East Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year. Penn St.-Berks runner Trent Jordan, who finished fourth, earned United East Men's Cross Country Rookie of the Year honors. Penn College's Alex Rees, who placed fifth, was the United East Men's Cross Country Elite 20 award winner for the top GPA at the conference final.
UP NEXT
This completes the 2024 season for the Gallaudet men's cross country team.
