Andrew Sardelli (Photo by Jen McGuinness)

Posted: Sep 19, 2015

Hughes holds true to form, leads Seahawks at UMass Dartmouth

NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. – Senior captain Sean Hughes (Old Saybrook, Conn.) led Salve Regina against a highly competitive field at the UMass-Dartmouth Invitational on Saturday. Hughes finished the five-mile race in 27:03.32 to place among the top 75 in the field of 324 runners.

Hughes took a conservative approach to the first mile, opening with a 5:20 and holding his ground through the second and third miles. Running true to form, Hughes found his stride in the closing mile, gaining dozens of spots as he approached the finish line. His 27:03.32 stands among the 10 fastest 8K and five-mile times in program history (Hughes holds nine of the top 10 spots on the list).

Sophomore Andrew Sardelli (Hope Valley, R.I.) was the Seahawks' second man for the third consecutive week, crossing the finish line at 28:08.92. Sardelli improved upon his previous personal best – set at UMass-Dartmouth in 2014 – by a full minute.

Brewer, Donnelly lead Seahawks sub-varsity scoring

Sophomore Scott Brewer (Palmer, Mass.) and freshman Dan Donnelly (Portsmouth, R.I.) were the top finishers for Salve Regina in the sub-varsity race. Brewer crossed the finish line at 30:02.63 to finish among the top third of the 200-man field. Donnelly, in his collegiate debut for the Seahawks, finished at 31:07.53.

Dean Wollenberg Sophomore Collin Travassos (Barrington, R.I.) , senior Daniel LaBrie (East Providence, R.I.) and senior Matt Sinkewicz (Colchester, Conn.) made up the rest of the scoring five for Salve Regina, posting times of 31:42.32, 33:49.96 and 33:55.89. Sophomore Neil Sheehan (Methuen, Mass.) and senior Dean Wollenberg (Hopkinton, R.I.) were the sixth and seventh men, finishing at 34:55.02 and 38:51.79.

Salve Regina placed 15th of 19 scoring teams in the sub-varsity race.

Results:
http://coolrunning.com/results/15/ma/Sep19_UMassD_set4.shtml

Salve Regina returns to action at the Purple Valley Classic, hosted by Williams College, at Mt. Greylock High School in Williamstown, Mass., on Saturday, Sept. 26.

Freshman Tyler Lancaster (Warwick, R.I.) ran at No. 3 for Salve Regina, posting a 28:55.90 in his debut at 5 miles. Junior captains Billy Martin (West Islip, N.Y.) and Jay Brennan (North Haven, Conn.) ran at No. 4 and No. 5, crossing the finish line at 29:17.37 and 29:33.10 to complete the scoring.

Junior Kevin Onofreo (Middlefield, Conn.) and sophomore Dave Napierkowski (Cheshire, Conn.) were the sixth and seventh men for the Seahawks, finishing at 29:38.21 and 29:59.34. Sophomore John Lutz (Ringwood, N.J.) also represented Salve Regina in the varsity race, finishing at 31:40.72.

Brandeis University, ranked No. 8 in the New England Region, won the meet with a team score of 93 points. East Stroudsburg, ranked No. 7 in the Atlantic Region for Division II, finished second with 116, and Connecticut College was third with 125 points. The top 10 teams also included Franklin Pierce, Southern New Hampshire and Merrimack, ranked No. 4, No. 6 and No. 7 in the East Region for Division II. Salve Regina finished 24th of 43 scoring teams. Ignatio Hernando of Southern New Hampshire won the individual title with a time of 25:13.61.