BILLINGS, Mont. – Two newcomers in Elaina Hansen and Marcus Rice rose to the challenge of the GNAC Championships, leading the Saints and both set personal best marks.
 
COMPLETE RESULTS
 
Rice took 29th overall in a talented field of athletes, breaking his personal best in the 8k with a time of 26:26.1 minutes. After the meet, the GNAC announced the special awards for the season, and Rice was named the GNAC Newcomer of the Year.
 
Andrew Oslin finished second on the team and 79th overall with his mark of 27:05.5 minutes. Competing at his first GNAC meet, Nick Sarysz was third for SMU with a time of 27:10 minutes. Zach Franco and Miguel De LaMelena closed out the scoring for Saint Martin's with their times of 28:12.6 and 28:27.6 minutes respectively.
 
Noah Roberts (29:38.7), Guillaume Tabary (30:04), and Jaskaran Dhatt (30:41.5) closed out results in the men's race.
 
In the women's race, Hansen continued to improve upon a great freshman campaign, setting another personal best in the 6k. Hansen led the Saints with a time of 24:28.6 minutes, which placed her 44th overall in the field.
 
Naomi Hartley followed behind in second place on the team, and 105th overall with her time of 25:52.8. Kierrla Yates and Bethany Forward took third and fourth on the team with their times of 26:16.1 and 27:00.1 minutes respectively. Rounding out the team was Kendyl Otter and Maiya Martinez coming in with marks of 27:34.7 and 30:40.6 minutes respectively.
 
As a team, Saint Martin's placed 9th overall in the men's field with a score of 259, while the women were 11th at 307.
 
Saint Martin's caps off the season with a trip to the NCAA West Regional meet on November 9 at Western Oregon.