University of New Hampshire Athletics
Saturday, October 28
St. Albans, Vt.
11 AM
University of New Hampshire
vs
America East Championships
Photo by: Michelle Bronner
Purrier, ’Cats Triumph Again at America East Championship
10/28/2017 1:05:00 PM | Women's Cross Country
Purrier Wins 3rd Crown, Team Grabs 5th Straight
ST. ALBANS, Vt. – Senior standout Elinor Purrier (Montgomery, Vt.) cruised to her third America East cross country title on Saturday morning and junior teammate Shannon Murdock (Exeter, N.H.) finished second to lead the University of New Hampshire women's team to its fifth straight team championship.
Purrier covered the 5-kilometer course at the Hard'Ack Recreation Area in 16 minutes, 45.82 seconds to capture another title to go with her wins in 2014 and 2016. Purrier's finish was nearly a minute faster than the next finisher, Murdock, finishing 48.47 seconds ahead of the pack.
Murdock turned in a time of 17:33.49 in her impressive finish; she also pulled away at the end and finished five seconds faster than the next runner.
The Wildcats grabbed five of the top 13 spots in the race to win with a score of 37 points.
Grad student Alyson Messina (Plymouth, Mass.) was ninth in 17:57.90, sophomore Meg Champagne (Plattsburgh, N.Y.) was 12th in 18:06.69 and junior Riley Gilmore was 13th in 18:07.77.
UNH's point total was its second-lowest in its five-year stretch of championships. Only the 2014 Wildcats had a better score with 26 points.
UMass Lowell was second with 57 points, Stony Brook was third with 58 and Vermont was fourth with 107.
Purrier and Murdock were named to the All-Conference First-Team for their top-seven finishes, while Messina, Champagne and Gilmore all made the Second-Team for finishing in the top 14 runners.
Along with all scoring runners qualifying for All-Conference honors, coach Robert Hoppler was honored as New Hampshire won Coaching Staff of the Year.
UP NEXT:
The Wildcats will compete in the NCAA Regionals on Nov. 10 in Buffalo.
The NCAA finals are Nov. 18 in Louisville, Kty.
RACE INFO
Date: Saturday, Oct. 28, 2017, 11 a.m.
Location: Hard'Ack Rcereation Area
Distance: 5K
FROM THE COACH:
" Elle is a privilege to coach, she's a great athlete, a great student, we're incredibly fortunate to have her. It was wonderful for her to run in front of her home town fans and for them to see her perform well... …she executed exactly the way we wanted."
-- Coach Robert Hoppler
"Shannon Murdock ran a fantastic race and she's had success on the track and has transitioned that into cross country… …Meg Champagne was doing her job and really executed the way we wanted. The 4-5 runners, Alyson Messina and Riley Gilmore, they needed to stay together and run tight, and they did exactly what we wanted; we wanted to be in the top-15 and they finished there. All the women executed the race plan; each year is unique and special, and this group did what they were asked to do."
-- Coach Robert Hoppler
Purrier covered the 5-kilometer course at the Hard'Ack Recreation Area in 16 minutes, 45.82 seconds to capture another title to go with her wins in 2014 and 2016. Purrier's finish was nearly a minute faster than the next finisher, Murdock, finishing 48.47 seconds ahead of the pack.
Murdock turned in a time of 17:33.49 in her impressive finish; she also pulled away at the end and finished five seconds faster than the next runner.
The Wildcats grabbed five of the top 13 spots in the race to win with a score of 37 points.
Grad student Alyson Messina (Plymouth, Mass.) was ninth in 17:57.90, sophomore Meg Champagne (Plattsburgh, N.Y.) was 12th in 18:06.69 and junior Riley Gilmore was 13th in 18:07.77.
UNH's point total was its second-lowest in its five-year stretch of championships. Only the 2014 Wildcats had a better score with 26 points.
UMass Lowell was second with 57 points, Stony Brook was third with 58 and Vermont was fourth with 107.
Purrier and Murdock were named to the All-Conference First-Team for their top-seven finishes, while Messina, Champagne and Gilmore all made the Second-Team for finishing in the top 14 runners.
Along with all scoring runners qualifying for All-Conference honors, coach Robert Hoppler was honored as New Hampshire won Coaching Staff of the Year.
UP NEXT:
The Wildcats will compete in the NCAA Regionals on Nov. 10 in Buffalo.
The NCAA finals are Nov. 18 in Louisville, Kty.
RACE INFO
Date: Saturday, Oct. 28, 2017, 11 a.m.
Location: Hard'Ack Rcereation Area
Distance: 5K
FROM THE COACH:
" Elle is a privilege to coach, she's a great athlete, a great student, we're incredibly fortunate to have her. It was wonderful for her to run in front of her home town fans and for them to see her perform well... …she executed exactly the way we wanted."
-- Coach Robert Hoppler
"Shannon Murdock ran a fantastic race and she's had success on the track and has transitioned that into cross country… …Meg Champagne was doing her job and really executed the way we wanted. The 4-5 runners, Alyson Messina and Riley Gilmore, they needed to stay together and run tight, and they did exactly what we wanted; we wanted to be in the top-15 and they finished there. All the women executed the race plan; each year is unique and special, and this group did what they were asked to do."
-- Coach Robert Hoppler
Players Mentioned
Distance
/ Women's Cross Country
Distance
/ Women's Cross Country
Distance
/ Women's Cross Country
Distance
/ Women's Cross Country
Distance
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