BOSTON – In the closest margin of victory in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Women's Indoor Track and Field Championship history, the Emmanuel Saints came away victorious to claim back-to-back GNAC Indoor Championships, claiming the 2025 title on Sunday from the Boston University Track and Tennis Center.
After winning last season's indoor championship by 9.5 points, the 2025 champions collected 151 points, beating second place Johnson & Wales by six. Saint Joseph's College claimed third with Regis and Colby-Sawyer rounding out the top five.
Unlike last year's championship run which featured just one individual GNAC Champion over 16 events and relied on depth scoring, the 2025 Women's GNAC Indoor Champion Saints claimed five first-place finishes across the 16 events, accounting for one-third of their points on Sunday.
Among the GNAC Individual Champions for the Saints this afternoon was three-time winner, senior
Desiree Robinson, who finished a perfect 3-for-3 in the events she competed in.
Starting her day in the long jump, Robinson scored first in the event with a jump of 5.04 meters. Making her way to the high jump, the two-sport star cleared the bar at 1.51 meters. Later in the afternoon, Robinson not only won the triple jump with a distance of 10.98 meters, but she qualified for the New England Regionals with that distance in the process of winning the event.
Out on the track, a 200-meter, personal best performance by senior
Caroline Carey resulted in first-place in the event, thanks to a time of 26.78 seconds. First-year
Aida Davis scored her own PR, first-place performance, winning the 400 meters in a time of 1:01.32.
Emmanuel's scoring depth across numerous events helped propel them in their title defense this afternoon. Arguably the most critical was the 20 points courtesy of the 60-meter hurdles. The Saints placed between second, third, fourth, and fifth in the event, banking several crucial points in the process.
The Saints totaled 14 points in the mile, thanks to second and third-place finishes by junior
Sydney Gonzalez and sophomore
Kendall Newton, respectively. With Robinson's 10 points in the high jump, the Saints added 12 more points in the event with a second-place finish for junior
Emily Greene and a fourth place for sophomore
Kason Huynh. Nine more points came via a second place in the triple jump by senior
Cynthia Brito and sixth by first-year
Donna Gauvin.
On the men's side of the draw, the Saints finished in third place as a team, matching their best finish in GNAC Men's Indoor Championship history.
Junior
Pierre Paul Labossiere scored 24 points for the Emmanuel men on Sunday, serving as the catalyst to a third-place team finish.
His two victories came in the high jump and the triple jump as the junior field star defended his individual high jump crown. His high jump not only made him a two-time indoor champion, but with a clearance at 1.90 meters, Labossiere reset his own program record and qualified for the New England Regionals in the process.
Labossiere's high jump performance wasn't his only event in which he qualified for New England's for, as a triple jump distance and PR of 13.43 meters, gave him another individual win and New England Regional event.
Junior
Jahan Puryear added seven points to the Emmanuel total with his effort in the pole vault. Puryear cleared the bar at 2.65 meters, good for a second-place tie. Sophomores
Luke Bullock and
Ryan Bausch each chipped in four points with fourth-place finishes in the 3,000 meters and 800 meters, respectively.
The women's GNAC Championship is their third title in five years of the event. In those five years, the Saints have either won or placed second in the Championship Meet.
With two meets to go in the season, the Saints head to Wheaton on Saturday, Feb. 22, for the Wheaton Postseason Qualifier.
With Robinson and Labossiere qualifying for the NCAA New England Regionals, the Saints are guaranteed to participate in the event, taking place from Feb. 28 to March 2, hosted at the TRACK at New Balance.
