Sacred Heart University Department of Athletics
Stony Brook Invitational
Women XC Open Season With Second Place Finish at Stony Brook Invitational; Men Place Fourth
8/30/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
STONY BROOK, NY - The Sacred Heart University Cross Country team opened their 2014 season Saturday morning at the Stony Brook Invitational. The women took home second place while the men finished in fourth. Stony Brook won both the men's and women's event.
Leading the way for the women was senior Emma Bolduc who placed in second with a 4000 meter time of 14:47. Not only did Bolduc shave 1:41 off her time from last year, but she also ran the fastest 4k meter time in program history eclipsing the old record of 14:51 set by Brianna Castrogivanni at the meet last year. Junior Shannon Hickey managed a top ten finish placing in tenth with a race time of 15:29.
Bolduc was not the only Pioneer to break a program record on the day. Tara Connelly ran the fastest 4k time ever by a SHU freshman finishing the course in 15:33. That time was also good enough for 11th place in the event. Trista Leo ran the third fastest 4000 meter time in program history by a freshman with a time of 16:12. Leo finished in 22nd. Also finishing in the top 25 for the Pioneers were Alexandra Kaeslin, Kelly Quinn, Zoe Kelly, and Lindsey Lucas. For Kaeslin and Quinn, it was their first ever appearance in the Pioneer top five.
"It's exciting to have so many of our women, in and out of our top 7, show such great improvement over what they did in the first meet last year," Coach Christian Morrison said of the women's success. "We will see what the future holds, but I think this team has a chance to be really good this season."
The Pioneer men were led by two freshmen. Trevor Guerrera finished tenth with a time of 19:36, while Timothy Loehner was not far behind in 15th, finishing the 6k course in 19:46. Those two times broke yet another Pioneer Cross Country record as the two fastest 6000 meter times by a freshman. The previous record was 20:31. On the day, eight of the first nine Sacred Heart men to cross the finish line were freshmen.
"This group got off to a great start today, and we have every reason to feel optimistic about the season ahead," commented Morrison on the success of the freshmen.
The Sacred Heart women ended the competition with 56 points. First place Stony Brook finished with 19. On the men's side, the fourth place Pioneers finished with 95 points. Stony Brook won the competition with 19. Complete competition results can be found here.
The SHU men and women will return to action on September 13th at the Minuteman Invitational in Amherst, MA. Race time is set for 11:30 AM.
Players Mentioned
