The America East Cross-Country Championship took place at the University of Maryland Baltimore County Oct. 29, with UVM placing fifth in the standings and three Catamounts coming home with America East Honors.
Senior captain Patrick Coppinger was named to the All-Conference first team.
Sophomores Samantha Sayer and Autumn Albrecht were selected to the All-Conference second team.
Coppinger recorded a time of 25:01.5 in the 8k men’s race, which earned him seventh place in the rankings.
“Over the course of the season everyone had just been running better and better, and having a really young team, there were no expectations of how America East should go,” Coppinger said about the team’s mentality. “Everyone was just feeling pretty positive about the meet.”
Albrecht crossed the finish line in eighth place during the women’s 5k race, registering a time of 17:42.8.
“Team-wise we were looking pretty good this year,” she said. “I think a lot of people stepped it up during summer training — so going into the race, we were hoping to place high as a team, and that’s what’s most important.”
Sayer barely missed out on a top-10 finish. She crossed the line with a time of 17:48.6, which earned her the place of No. 11 in the race.
“I think [going into the race] we were feeling pretty antsy and just the whole buildup of the race,” she said. “We were feeling very high-energy.”
Each of the three runners significantly improved on their times and placing from the 2015 America East Championships.
“I think the key to success is summer training and just being consistent,” Albrecht said.
She also gave plenty of credit to her teammates’ support.
“The fact that this year everyone on the team is so excited for each of us to improve, that personally helps me,” Albrecht said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re the last runner or the first runner, everyone is so pumped about how the team is doing, and I think that’s really great. It keeps me going.”
Coppinger attributed much of his success to mentality.
“It was the first America East for me that I’ve felt focused the entire race and just in a competitive mindset the whole time,” he said. “I felt like, finishing the race, I had put everything into it and didn’t really leave anything out there.”
