Hughes takes Seahawks over peaks of Mount Greylock
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – Senior captain Sean Hughes (Old Saybrook, Conn.) again led the scoring charge for Salve Regina as the Seahawks made their first appearance in the Purple Valley Classic hosted by Williams College.
Hughes positioned himself in the upper third of a highly competitive field that included some of the top-ranked teams in the USTFCCCA Division III National Coaches' Poll and the New England, Atlantic, Mideast and West Regions. Hughes moved efficiently on the peaks and valleys of the 8K championship layout at Mount Greylock Regional High School en route to finishing in 28:06.9.
Sophomore Andrew Sardelli (Hope Valley, R.I.) was again the No. 2 man for Salve Regina, crossing the finish line at 29:33.6. His finish marked an improvement of 53 seconds from his previous run on the course at Williams, during the NCAA Division III New England Regional Championship last fall.
Freshman Tyler Lancaster (Warwick, R.I.) was the third man for the Seahawks, finishing at 29:48.3, while sophomores Scott Brewer (Palmer, Mass.) and Dave Napierkowski (Cheshire, Conn.) rounded out the scoring five at 30:19.4 and 30:32.3. Junior captains Jay Brennan (North Haven, Conn.) and Billy Martin (West Islip, N.Y.) ran at No. 6 and No. 7, crossing the finish line at 30:41.1 and 30:46.5.
Amherst College, ranked No. 3 in the national poll and No. 1 in the New England Region, placed three of its scorers in the top 10 to win with a team score of 42. Amherst sophomore Mohamed Hussein also won the individual title in 25:16.7, outlasting Williams senior Bijan Mazaheri, who finished at 25:17.9. Hussein overtook Mazaheri in the final 200 meters of the race.
Williams College, ranked No. 8 in the nation and No. 3 in New England, also placed three of its scorers in the top 10 to finish second with 45 points. SUNY-Geneseo, ranked No. 16 in the nation and No. 2 in the Atlantic Region, was third with 55 points, while MIT, ranked No. 6 in the nation and No. 2 in New England, was fourth with 98 points. Pomona-Pitzer of California, ranked No. 13 in the nation and No. 2 in the West Region, was fifth with 115 points. Two other teams in the top 10 held regional and national rankings.
Salve Regina finished 18th of 22 scoring teams.
Other Salve Regina finishers included:
- Senior captain Slater Roosa (Woodbury, Conn.) – 30:49.4
- Junior Anthony Tandy (Hopedale, Mass.) – 31:36.7
- Junior Kevin Onofreo (Middlefield, Conn.) – 31:37.0
- Freshman Dan Donnelly (Portsmouth, R.I.) – 31:44.1
- Sophomore John Lutz (Ringwood, N.J.) – 32:20.1
- Junior Tyler Torelli (Ledyard, Conn.) – 35:29.1
Sophomore Neil Sheehan (Methuen, Mass.) and senior Matthew Sinkewicz (Colchester, Conn.) represented Salve Regina in the junior varsity race. Sheehan finished at 20:54.4, a new personal best at 5K, while Sinkewicz crossed the line at 21:00.6, his fastest 5K of the season.
Salve Regina returns to action on Saturday at the Tri-State Invitational hosted by the Community College of Rhode Island.
