(Presque Isle, Maine)- The University of Maine at Presque Isle won the 2009 Sunrise Conference women's cross country championship and Paul Smith's College won the men's title on Saturday, Nov. 7 in Presque Isle, Maine.

In the women's meet Presque Isle finished with 28 points, narrowly beating Paul Smith's College who had 29 points.  Vermont Technical College was third with 66 points.

Shelly Hanson paced the Owls with a third place finish recording a time of 22:26.  Katie Christoffel came in fourth in a time of 22:58.  Justine Cyr was fifth (23:12) and Chandra Wisneski was sixth (23:59).  All four were named to the all-Sunrise Conference Team.

Jessie Gardner of Paul Smith's College won the women's individual title finishing the 5K race in a time of 21:51, 20 seconds faster than teammate Ashley Rokjer (22:11) who came in second.  Gardner was named the Sunrise Conference Female Runner of the Year and made the all-conference team along with Rokjer and teammate Jessica Champagne who came in seventh place in a time of 24:26.  Rokjer was also named Rookie of the Year.

There was no automatic team berth to the NAIA national meet but Gardner, Rokjer, and Hanson qualified as individuals for the national meet on Nov. 20 in Washington.

In the men's meet Paul Smith's finished with 36 points, out running Presque Isle who had 51 points.  Vermont Tech was third with 66 points.  SUNY Canton was fourth with 73 points and the University of Maine at Fort Kent was fifth with 126 points.

The Bobcats took three of the top seven places to capture the title.  Kyle Dash finished third in a time of 29:32.  Matthew Piper was fifth in a time of 20:25 and Jacob Dillon was seventh in a time of 31:27.  All three were named to the all-conference team.

Justin Fereshetian of Presque Isle was the men's overall individual winner and was named the Sunrise Conference Male Runner of the Year as he recorded a time of 29:00 in the 8K race, narrowly beating Justin Richardson of SUNY Canton who had a time of 29:21. 

Justin Newland of Vermont Tech was fourth in a time of 30:17 and Byron Danis was fifth in a time of 30:33.  All four were named to the all-conference team and Richardson was named the Rookie of the Year.

Fereshetian, Richardson, and Dash also qualified as individuals for the NAIA men's national meet on Nov. 20 in Washington.

Chris Smith of Presque Isle was named the Sunrise Conference Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year and Jim Tucker of Paul Smith's was the Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year.