Bates College

Senior captain John Stansel became Bates' first individual champion at the Maine State Cross Country Championships since 2006 on Saturday, leading the Bobcats to their third team win at the meet in the past four years.

Stansel (Newburyport, Mass.) became the first Bobcat in eight years to win the race (Steve Monsulick '07 won in 2006), covering the 8-kilometer course at Mt. Blue High School in Farmington in 26:22 -- nine seconds ahead of runner-up Avery Wentworth of Bowdoin.

The No. 27 nationally ranked Bobcats placed their top five runners among the top nine overall to win their third team title in the past four years.

The Bobcats scored 26 points, 12 ahead of rival and runner-up Bowdoin, with No. 6-ranked Colby a distant third with 64. Southern Maine (118) and the University of New England (143) rounded out the top five.

Stansel earned NESCAC Men's Cross Country Performer of the Week honors for his performance, announced Monday by the New England Small College Athletic Conference.

Bates returns to action on Nov. 1 for the NESCAC Championship at Middlebury.