PRESQUE ISLE, Maine - Junior Ponce Saltysiak (Bar Harbor, Maine) finished third, out of 87 runners, to lead Maine Maritime Academy men's cross country to a sixth place finish at Saturday's North Atlantic Conference (NAC) Championship, hosted by UMaine-Presque Isle.
 
Saltysiak completed the 8k course in a time of 27:47.4 to lead the Mariners and claim NAC First-Team honors. First-year Joey Valliere (Brunswick, Maine) finished 26th with a time of 31:01.7, and was closely followed by junior teammate John Beres (Shoreline, Wash.) who placed 28th with a time of 31:08.3.
 
First-year Logan Serpico (Lewes, Del.) finished 40th with a time of 32:24.8 and junior Shail Leszkowicz (Marlton, N.J.) rounded out Maine Maritime's top-five finishers, placing 57th with a time of 34:01.6.
 
Maine-Farmington's Justin Castaldo won the individual title with a time of 27:37.4 to lead Farmington to the 2023 NAC Title. The Beavers were second in last year's event. This year, they had six of the top eight finishers.
 
Nick Logan of SUNY Cobleskill, who was second in last year's meet, was second in 2023 at 27:40.2. Saltysiak was third (27:47.4) followed by three UMF runners, Luke Bliss (28:03.4), James Riley (28:07.5) and Jimmy Reel (28:08.9). David Hileman of Husson was seventh followed by UMF runner Ethan Linscott and Delhi's Derek Leiter.
 
Castaldo was named the NAC Runner of the Year, by virtue of claiming the top spot,  while NAC Rookie of the Year honors went to his teammate Linscott, who was the top finishing first-year runner.
 
Maine-Farmington combined for a team total of 24 points, to finish first out of the 10 schools. SUNY Delhi came in second (93),  Husson was third (103) followed by SUNY Cobleskill (115) and SUNY Morrisville (120). Maine Maritime was sixth (146) followed by host UMaine-Presque Isle (169), Thomas (192), SUNY Poly (222) and Eastern Nazarene (278).
 
SUNY Canton did not compete in this year's championship due to travel issues.
 
The top 15 runners earn All-North Atlantic Conference accolades, with the top eight on the First Team and finishers nine through 15 receiving Second Team honors.
 
First Team All-North Atlantic Conference
Justin Castaldo, UMaine-Farmington
Nick Logan, SUNY Cobleskill
Ponce Saltysiak, Maine Maritime
Luke Bliss, UMaine-Farmington
James Riley, UMaine-Farmington
Jimmy Reel, UMaine-Farmington
David Hileman, Husson
Ethan Linscott, UMaine-Farmington

Second Team All-North Atlantic Conference
Derek Leiter, SUNY Delhi
Nathan Goodwin, SUNY Delhi
John Amenta, SUNY Delhi
Andrew Laflamme, UMaine Farmington
Nik Recore, SUNY Cobleskill
Connor Freeman, UMaine-Farmington
Stephen Grierson, UMaine-Presque Isle
 
The Mariners will now prepare for the NCAA DIII Regional Championship, hosted by Suffolk University on Saturday, November 11. The race will take place at the Hopkinton Fairgrounds, in Hopkinton, N.H., and is set to begin at 12:00 pm.