WINTHROP, Mass. – Simmons University's Alice Najimy (Pittsfield, Mass.) was named to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Women's Cross Country All-Conference First Team, it was announced by the league.
Najimy earns First Team honors for the second straight year by virtue of a top-seven finish after placing sixth at the GNAC Championship meet in Standish, Maine on November 2. The sophomore becomes the first Shark to earn First Team accolades in each of her first two years of competition for the Sharks since Samantha Jaffe (2015-18) achieved the same feat in 2015 and 2016.
Najimy clocked in at 24:46 on the SJC Cross Country Trail on the campus of Saint Joseph's College (Maine) at the six-kilometer GNAC title meet. It was her third top-10 finish of the season and fourth top-15 showing. Najimy has been limited to four meets after missing time early in the season with an injury, but still managed to place seventh in her first effort of the season, crossing the finish with a season-best 6K time of 24:45 at the 48th Annual Pop Crowell Invitational on September 21 in Wenham, Mass. The Lenox Memorial High School product registered her highest finish of the year on October 12 when she placed fourth at the Runnin' Monks Invitational with a mark of 25:20.4 on the same SJC course over six kilometers. The Western Massachusetts native posted a time of 20:17.8 to place 13th in the Suffolk Invitational with the second-fastest time of her career at historic Franklin Park in Boston in her only 5K race all season on October 19.
Najimy placed fifth at the GNAC Championship a year ago and was named the GNAC Rookie of the Year for her efforts to become the first Shark to receive the award. She has recorded seven top-10 finishes for her career and has run a sub-21 minute time in every 5K during her tenure at Simmons, including a mark of 19:57 to finish 15th in last year's five-kilometer Codfish Bowl at Franklin Park.
The Sharks will compete in their final race of the season on Saturday, November 16 when they compete at the NCAA Division III New England Regional Championship at Pickard Fields in Brunswick, Maine.