Sacred Heart University Department of Athletics
Minuteman Invitational
Sacred Heart XC Competes in Minutemen Invitational
9/13/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
AMHERST, MASS. – The Sacred Heart University Cross Country team traveled to Amherst on Saturday morning to compete in the Minutemen Invitational. Highlighting the day were the SHU women who had eleven runners break the 19:30 mark, which broke a program record.
Leading the way for the Pioneer Women was Emma Bolduc who followed up her second place finish at the Stony Brook Invitational with another strong performance to finish seventh. Her time of 17:36.3 improved her personal best by 48 seconds and was the third fastest 5k time in Sacred Heart history.
For a second straight event, Shannon Hickey and Tara Connelly crossed the line back to back. Hickey finished in 23rd with a time of 18:06.3 to improve her personal best by 40 seconds and run the eighth fastest time in program history. Connelly's time of 18:06.6 was good for 24th place. Competing in her first career collegiate 5k, Connelly broke the program's freshmen record of 18:20, which had held strong since 2007.
Jennifer Hahne shaved 46 seconds off of her personal best to run the course in 18:13.9 and finish 30th. Rounding out the top seven for the Pioneers were Alexandra Kaeslin (18:54.1), Kelly Quinn (19:01.2), and Slaine Kelly (19:11.9). With those times, all seven of those runners are now in the top thirty on the Pioneers' All-Time 5k list.
"I was pleased with the team's showing today. It's great to have so many athletes, up-and-down our lineup, run personal bests on the same day. It really speaks to the dedication and commitment of our women's squad," head coach Christian Morrison said of his women's team.
The Pioneer women finished fourth in the strong field of eight. They were nine points behind third place UMass-Amherst. Boston College, ranked second in the NCAA Northeast Region and 17th nationally, won the event with 27 points. Connecticut, ranked 11th in the Northeast region, finished second with 41.
For the second straight meet, the Pioneer men were led by the freshmen pair of Trevor Guerrera (Farmingville, N.Y.) and Timothy Loehner (Danvers, Mass.). The two finished 30th and 31st with near identical times of 19:52.1 and 19:52.5. The race winner finished the 6k course in 18:53.4.
As a team, the Sacred Heart men finished in sixth with 172 points. That was 16 points behind fifth place Amherst College. Vermont finished with 37 points to win the meet.
"Our guys ran up against a quality group of teams today, and they performed well, even if the team standings don't show it. They are working hard and gaining experience. By seasons, end, I think they will be ready to surprise some people," Morrison said.
The Sacred Heart runners will return to action on September 27th at the Ted Owen Invitational in New Britain, Conn. The race will begin at 11 AM.
Players Mentioned
