Sacred Heart University Department of Athletics
Stony Brook University Cross Country Invitational
Women's Cross Country Open Season with Win for First time in Program History
9/5/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
STONY BROOK, N.Y. – For the first time in program history, the two time defending Northeast Conference champion Sacred Heart women's cross country team opened its season by taking home a title at the first meet of the season.
With 45 points, the Pioneers held off both the host, Stony Brook, and UMass Lowell, who finished with 52 and 53 points, respectively, at the Stony Brook Invitational on Saturday. SHU was bolstered by its top five runners placing in the top 13 of the 77-competitor field. The next closest team, UMass Lowell, had its top five runners finish in the top twenty.
"Although we lost two great runners to graduation in Liz Hutchins and Emma Bolduc," said Head Coach Christian Morrison, "our returning group has improved across the board, and they appear more than ready to fill the void left by those losses. It's nice to start the season off this way, and now we look forward to seeing how good we can become over the course of the season."
Leading the charge were senior captains Shannon Hickey and Alexandra Kaeslin, both of whom placed in the top six. Hickey completed the 4k course in 15:05.35, 24 seconds faster than last year. The time was good for the third fastest 4000 Meter race in program history behind only Emma Bolduc and Brianna Castrogivanni. Kaeslin ran the course in 15:19.25, improving on her 2014 time by 36 seconds.
The next three SHU finishers crossed back-to-back-back, led by Tara Connelly in 11th. The sophomore was the third underclassmen (freshman or sophomore) to finish, as she ran 15:26.52 in improving on her time from a year ago by eight seconds. Behind her was Jennifer Hahne and Molly Barker, who ran the course in 15:29.25 and 15:30.69. Hahne and Barker did not run in this meet in 2014, but they improved 38 seconds and 1:20, respectively, over what they ran in the meet in 2013.
Freshman Emma Cary had a strong showing in her first collegiate race, as she was the third freshman, and 16th overall competitor, to finish in 15:38.04. It was the second fastest 4000-Meter race by a freshman in program history behind only current teammate Connelly, who ran a 15:33 last year.
Sacred Heart's next meet will be an important one, as it will give the Pioneers a preview of the 2015 Northeast Conference Championship course. SHU will travel up to Smithfield, R.I. for the Bryant University Cross Country Invitational on Saturday at 10:30 am. The 2015 NEC Championship will be held at the course on Saturday, October 31, as Sacred Heart will look to defend its back-to-back conference titles.
Notes
The title is the 28th invitational or championship team title in women's program history.
Meghan Hutch (15:48.02; 23rd place), Kelly Quinn (16:00.05; 27th), Kate Svensen (16:02.62), and Sarah Bent (16:35.94; 41st) all improved on their times from 2014. Hutch improved 39 seconds, Quinn improved 11 seconds, Svensen improved 27 seconds and Bent improved 1:49.
Players Mentioned
