Luke Marsanskis crosses over the Willard C. Orr Pedestrian Bridge toward the finish line at Pickering Square in Bangor to win the 43rd Annual Walter Hunt 4th of July 3K Road Race in 2024. Credit: Linda Coan O'Kresik / BDN

University of Maine graduate student Luke Marsanskis from Cumberland finished 97th among 255 runners at the NCAA Division I cross country championships in Verona, Wisconsin, on Saturday morning.

He posted a time of 29:54.1 over the 10K course which was third best among the eight runners from New England schools.

The other seven were from Harvard University including Graham Blanks, who won it for the second straight year. His teammate, Shane Brosnan, finished 57th but the other five finished 158th or lower.

Harvard finished 27th among the 31 teams.

Marsanskis was the first UMaine runner to qualify for the cross country nationals since Kelton Cullenberg in 2013. Cullenberg finished 126th.

Marsanskis became the first UMaine runner since 2016 to win the America East championship, finishing the 8K course in Vermont in 23:51.8. He then went on to register a seventh-place showing at the 10K Northeast Regional in 30:07.5.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *