JOHNSON, Vt. - Johnson State College men's cross country will compete this Saturday at the 2012 North Atlantic Conference Cross Country Championship hosted by New England College in Henniker, New Hampshire. The 8K race will start at 11:00 am.

Led by first-year head coach Shawn Woods the Badgers are enthusiastic and excited for 2012 after an incomplete team finish in 2011 at Lyndon State College.

The Badgers ran at New England College in the season's first race where JSC finished in eighth place out of 13 participating teams.

Freshman Brendan Walsh (Killingworth, Conn./Killingworth) has been the Badgers top finisher in every race he has participated in this season. Walsh finished in 11th place out of 108 runners at the season-opening Mayflower Kick-Off at NEC.  Walsh has had two top five finishes and three top 10's during his 2012 campaign.

Johnson will have an experienced championship participants in seniors Kayden Keith (Morriville, Vt./Peoples) and Alex Lagase (Milford, Conn./Foran).  The newcomers to the Badgers roster in 2012 have been steady and strong in Walsh, freshmen Steven Lamonde (Hingham, Mass./Hingham), Zachary Shuttle (St. Albans, Vt./BFA-St. Albans), John Dabrowski (Williston, Vt./CVU) and sophomores Gregory Davis (Philadelphia, Penn./Fels) and Jake Eustis (North Yarmouth, Maine/Greely).

Lamonde, like Walsh, has had an outstanding rookie season with a fourth place finish at the Castleton Invitational on September 8 and three top 15 finishes this season.

Host New England College will look to defend their 2011 Championship.  Lyndon State was the runner-up in 2011 after winning three consecutive championships from 2008-2010.

North Atlantic Conference men's cross country participants include Johnson State, Castleton State, Colby-Sawyer, Green Mountain, Husson, Lyndon State, Maine-Farmington, Maine Maritime, New England College, and Thomas.