UMaine-Farmington Wins Second-Consecutive NAC Men's Cross Country Title

UMaine-Farmington Wins Second-Consecutive NAC Men's Cross Country Title

(COMPLETE RESULTS) DELHI, New York – The University of Maine-Farmington cruised to a North Atlantic Conference Men’s Cross Country Championship for the second year in a row with the Beavers' Justin Castaldo repeating as the NAC Men’s 8K individual champion Saturday at the SUNY Delhi country trails. 
 
Castaldo won the individual title with a time of 26:02, crushing his previous time at last year’s championship (27:37.4) to help lead Farmington to their first-place finish. Along with Castaldo, the Beavers had six runners finish in the top 10 to help secure their victory; James Riley (5th – 27:12), Connor Freeman (6th – 27:14), Andrew LaFlamme (7th – 27:15), Jimmy Reel (8th – 27:17), and Ethan Linscott (10th – 27:29). 
 
Maine Maritime Academy’s Ponce Saltysiak placed second at the championship with a time of 26:53, beating his third-place finish in the 2023 championship. The Mariner’s First-Year runner William Spaulding came in third at his first NAC championship with a time of 27:02. Sam Lees of SUNY Delhi cross the finish line shortly after Spauling to take fourth (27:09). 
 
Farmington scored 27 points with the Mariners placing second with 60 points. This is Maine Maritime’s best team finish since 2019 when the team was the men’s runner up. SUNY Delhi was third with 81 points followed by Thomas College and Husson University with 102 and 134 points. SUNY Cobleskill was sixth (143), UMaine-Presque Isle was seventh with 186 with Vermont State University Lyndon (221) and Lesley University (249) finishing in eighth and ninth place respectively. 
 
The top 15 runners earn All-North Atlantic Conference accolades, with the top eight on the First Team and finishers nine through 15 receiving Second Team honors.

All programs will compete in 2024 NCAA Regional action on Saturday, November 16th in accordance with their geographical alignment, as SUNY Delhi and SUNY Cobleskill will race in the Niagara Regional while UMaine-Farmington, Husson, Maine Maritime, Thomas, Lesley, Maine Maritime, and UMaine-Presque Isle will participate in the East Regional.
 
First Team All-North Atlantic Conference
Justin Castaldo, UMaine-Farmington
Ponce Saltysiak, Maine Maritime Academy
William Spaulding, Maine Maritime Academy
Sam Lees, SUNY Delhi
James Riley, UMaine-Farmington
Connor Freeman, UMaine-Farmington
Andrew LaFlamme, UMaine-Farmington
Jimmy Real, UMaine-Farmington
 
Second Team All-North Atlantic Conference
Cooper Parlee, Maine Maritime Academy 
Ethan Linscott, UMaine-Farmington
Nik Recore, SUNY Cobleskill 
Liam Cowdrey, SUNY Delhi 
David Hileman, Husson University 
Patrick McKenny, Thomas College
Eddie Bradley, SUNY Delhi