Posted: Oct 30, 2021

Norton, McKee, Shipman All-CCC finishers for Seahawks

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Suffolk had a memorable first-ever Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Women's Cross Country Championship meet, registering 73 points to claim the 2021 CCC Women's Cross Country title.

Suffolk was led by three runners who earned All-Conference recognition as top-15 finishers. Leading the way for the Rams was Gwen Koziara (Philadelphia, Pa.) who finished fourth with a six-kilometer time of 24:06. Right behind her, with a fifth-place finish, was Sydney Fogg (York, Maine) who finished at 24:08. Skyler Spanbauer (Guilderland, N.Y.) finished 11th with a time of 25:11. Sarah Roberts (Taunton, Mass.) and Christina Baggitt (Stockton, N.J.) were Suffolk's two other scorers, finishing 19th and 36th, respectively.

The University of New England was a close runner-up at this year's meet as the Nor'easters earned 76 points as a team. Their top runner was Jasmine Syed (Canterbury, N.H.) who finished second overall with a time of 23:47. Junior Kelsee Gladu (Woonsocket, R.I.) also earned a spot on the All-Conference team with a ninth-place finish at 25:01.

Endicott, the third place finisher this year with 81 points, also had two student-athletes finish in All-Conference spots. They were Cassandra Cosma (Center Moriches, N.Y.), whose time of 24:40 placed her seventh, and Brianna am Ende (East Lyme, Conn.) who finished in 12th at 25:16.

The fourth-place spot in this year's CCC Championship meet went to Salve Regina, thanks in part to its three All-Conference performers. They were Cate Norton (Sandy Hook, Conn.) in eighth, Heather McKee (Churchton, Md.) in 14th, and Bre Shipman (New Canaan, Conn.) in 15th.

Rounding out the top-five in the team competition was Roger Williams. The Hawks got a strong performance from Amanda Naylor (Glastonbury, Conn.) who took the bronze medal at this year's meet with at time of 24:06. Caitlin Boufford (Londonderry, N.H.) also had a top-10 finish, placing sixth at 24:21.

Gordon was led by sophomore Rachel Brennan (Lynn, Mass.) who earned both the Runner and Rookie of the Year honors as the first-place finisher. She completed the 6k trek in 23:36, besting her closest competitor by more than 10 seconds. In addition to Brennan's strong showing, the Fighting Scots also got All-Conference performances from Abigail Baier (Truckee, Calif.) and Carolyn Day (Wolfeboro, Maine), who finished 10th and 13th, respectively. Baier was also one of two student-athletes voted the CCC Scholar-Athlete.

Wentworth and Western New England finished seventh and eighth, respectively, in Saturday's race. WNE's Samantha Lewis (Goffstown, N.H.) was also recognized as the CCC Scholar-Athlete.

Suffolk head coach Will Feldman was named the 2021 CCC Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year and Gordon was voted the winner of the Team Sportsmanship award.

TEAM SCORES

1. Suffolk – 73
2. University of New England – 76
3. Endicott – 81
4. Salve Regina – 88
5. Roger Williams – 96
6. Gordon – 111
7. Wentworth – 205
8. Western New England – 220
No Score – Curry, Nichols

INDIVIDUAL FINISHES (ALL-CONFERENCE)

1. Rachel Brennan, Gordon – 23:36
2. Jasmine Syed, University of New England – 23:47
3. Amanda Naylor, Roger Williams – 24:06
4. Gwen Koziara, Suffolk – 24:06
5. Sydney Fogg, Suffolk – 24:08
6. Caitlin Boufford, Roger Williams – 24:21
7. Cassandra Cosma, Endicott – 24:40
8. Cate Norton, Salve Regina – 24:47
9. Kelsee Gladu, University of New England – 25:01
10. Abigail Baier, Gordon – 25:05
11. Skyler Spanbauer, Suffolk – 25:11
12. Brianna am Ende, Endicott – 25:16
13. Carolyn Day, Gordon – 25:16
14. Heather McKee, Salve Regina – 25:20
15. Bre Shipman, Salve Regina – 25:23

MAJOR AWARDS

Runner/Rookie of the Year – Rachel Brennan, Gordon
CCC Scholar-Athlete – Abigail Baier, Gordon
CCC Scholar-Athlete - Samantha Lewis, Western New England
Coach of the Year – Will Feldman, Suffolk
Team Sportsmanship – Gordon