WINTHROP, Mass. – Simmons College Head Women's Cross Country Coach Eric Ashe (Hanson, Mass.) was named the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year, while Sarah Bohan (Guilford, Conn.) earned First Team honors and Samantha Jaffe (Fayetteville, N.Y.) and Allegra Egizi (Beverly, Mass.) were both Second Team selections, it was announced by the league.
Ashe earns the conference's top coaching honor after leading the Sharks to their third consecutive second place finish at the GNAC Cross Country Championship at Colt State Park in Bristol, R.I. Simmons has registered four top-four team finishes this season, including a third-place effort at the two-mile Roger Williams Invitational on September 2 and fourth-place showings at the 37th Annual Women's Codfish Bowl on September 23 at Franklin Park in Dorchester, Mass. and the six-kilometer Seven Sisters Championship on October 14. The Sharks also finished 12th overall in the New England Intercollegiate Amateur Athletic Association Junior Varsity race at Franklin Park on October 7. Simmons placed third among Division III schools at the NEICAAA event.
In just four years at Simmons, Ashe has directed the Sharks to three second-place finishes at the GNAC Championship to go with a third-place effort in his first campaign at the Fenway school. The former Boston University harrier also guided the Sharks to a 24th-place finish at the NCAA New England Regional Championship last year for their highest finish ever in the regional race.
Bohan earned First Team honors by virtue of her top-seven finish at the GNAC Championship. The Guilford High School product placed fifth after breaking the 20-minute barrier for the first time in her collegiate career with a mark of 19:49. The junior has recorded four top-seven finishes this season, including a third-place effort at the Seven Sisters Championship with a time of 24:10, a fourth-place showing at the Roger Williams Invitational and a seventh-place finish at the Codfish Bowl.
Bohan placed 10th to earn Second Team honors last year and has run under 20:25 in all 5k races for her career.
Jaffe was tapped for the Second Team as a top-14 finisher at the GNAC Championship after placing ninth with a time of 20:10 to best her previous personal-record mark by four seconds. The junior has performed better in each of her races during the season and placed 19th at the Seven Sisters Championship with a mark of 25:10. A graduate of Jamesville-DeWitt High School, Jaffe posted a time of 13:33 to finish 25th at the Roger Williams Invitational and her 20:48 effort at the NEICAAA Championship was the 20th-fastest mark among Division III runners.
Jaffe earned First Team All-Conference accolades in each of her first two years, following a pair of sixth-place showings and has turned in eight sub 21-minute efforts in 10 career five-kilometer races.
Egizi has enjoyed the best year of her collegiate career and was named to the Second Team after placing 11th at the GNAC Championship with a time of 20:30 to shatter her personal-record time by 21 seconds. The senior has posted four top-35 efforts this season and began the year by placing 11th at the Roger Williams Invitational. The Nazareth Academy graduate clocked in at 25:17 to finish 22nd at the Seven Sisters Championship.
Egizi placed 19th at last year's GNAC Championship and was 11th in the title race as a sophomore. A transfer from Seton Hall University, she has clocked in under 21 and a half minutes in eight of nine 5K races that she's competed in at Simmons.
The Sharks return to the path on Saturday, November 11 when they travel to Gorham, Maine to compete in the NCAA New England Regional Championship at 12:00 p.m.