SHU Runs at Princeton Invitational

Saturday, October 18

10-30 a.m.

Sacred Heart

9th/35 Teams

Princeton Invitational

10/18/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country

PRINCETON, N.J. – The Sacred Heart University men's and women's cross country teams traveled to Princeton on Saturday morning to compete in the Princeton Invitational. The women finished the event in the ninth place, while the men placed 35^th.

Running a 6k as opposed to their normal 5k, Elizabeth Hutchins led the women for the first time this season as she recorded a time of 22:14, which was good for 24^th place in the 35-team event. Emma Bolduc was not far behind as she placed 21^st with a time of 22:26. Next to finish for the Pioneers was Jennifer Hahne, whose time of 22:52 put her in 78^th place. Shannon Hickey cracked the top 100, as she placed 96^th with a time of 23:10.

Freshman Tara Connelly was the highest finishing NEC rookie for the second straight weekend as she placed 108th. She beat out Hannah Dorian of St. Francis U, who is the only NEC freshman to beat Connelly this season, by one spot as they both posted times of 23:19. Rounding out the top seven for SHU was Alexandra Kaeslin and Kelly Quinn, who placed 128^th and 174^th, respectively, with times of 23:29 and 24:04. Both runners set new personal bests, as Kaeslin improved on her best by 1:15, and Quinn bested her time by 1:26

Sacred Heart was eleven points back of eight-place Lehigh, who is ranked 13^th in the Mid-Atlantic Region, with 320 points. Each team that finished ahead of SHU is regionally ranked, while the Pioneers also managed to beat out three regionally ranked teams. The other two NEC teams in the event, St. Francis U, who finished one place behind the Pioneers at the Ted Owen Invitational earlier this season, and Mount St. Mary's, finished 20^th and 30^th, respectively. Villanova, who is ranked 21^st in the country, finished five points clear of 32^nd ranked Virginia Tech to take home the title.

"Our women competed on tired legs today, as they ran really hard in the New England Championships last Saturday, and are still recovering from that effort," said head coach Christian Morrison. "They still turned in a solid performance, however, beating some regionally ranked teams and coming close to some others. This group is in a good place right now, and is rounding into fine form for the Northeast Conference Championship on November 1st. We're really looking forward to that day."

For the fifth consecutive event, freshman Trevor Guerrera led the way for Pioneer men. He crossed the line in 26:22 to finish the event in 183^rd place. He now ranks fourth on Sacred Heart's All-Time Freshman 8k list and 18^th overall. Fellow freshman Timothy Loehner was eight seconds behind, as he placed 194^th. Loehner moved into sixth on the All-time Freshman 8k list and 23^rd overall.

Junior Ustjanauskas continues to be the only upperclassmen in the top seven, as he placed 266^th with a time of 27:45. James Sullivan lV, Jake Tavernite, and Bryan Reilly finished with times of 27:59, 28:00, and 28:01, to place 274^th, 275^th, and 277^th, respectively. Sullivan and Reilly both turned in personal bests with the efforts. Rounding out the top seven for the Pioneers was Joseph Klein, who ran the course in 28:14 to finish 280^th.

As a team, SHU compiled 1,044 points to finish 35^th. Villanova won the event comfortably with 45 points.

"This group continues to gain experience from one week to the next, and today's race was another step in their maturation process," Morrison said. "For the next two weeks, our sole focus will be upon getting ready for the Northeast Conference Championship. We're excited to see what we can accomplish in that meet."

Sacred Heart will prep for the Northeast Conference Championships next Friday as they compete in the CCSU Mini Meet held at Stanley Quarter Park in New Britain, Conn. The Mini Meet is scheduled to begin at 3:30 pm. The NEC Championships, also held at Stanley Quarter Park, will be held the following Saturday, November 1, at 11 am.