Seahawks show improvement at NCAA regionals

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Senior Billy Martin (West Islip, N.Y.) assumed his usual leading role in his final collegiate race on Saturday, leading the charge for Salve Regina in the NCAA Division III New England Regional Championship.

Martin and the other Seahawk scorers took a conservative approach at the start, splitting the opening mile at 5:25 and holding steady through the second mile on the course at Stanley Park. The captain advanced on the trail portion of the race, moving into the top half of the field of 384 runners.

Martin crossed the finish line at 27:43.47, good for the fifth-fastest 8K of his career. His finish – 178 of 384 – was his best among the four regional championship meets in which he appeared. Martin is now credited with five of the 25 fastest 8Ks ever run for Salve Regina.

"Billy delivered another solid performance today, just as he has done all season. This was exactly the race that we expected. He knew the course, he had a plan, and he ran very well," said head coach Rob McGuinness. "It is only fitting that he would make one final mark on our all-time list for 8K."

Freshman Riley Rancourt (Warren, R.I.), junior David Napierkowski (Cheshire, Conn.), junior captain Andrew Sardelli (Hope Valley, R.I.) and senior captain Jay Brennan (North Haven, Conn.) rounded out the scoring five for Salve Regina, with all four crossing the finish line within 30 seconds of one another.

Freshman Chandler Da Cruz (Middletown, R.I.), running as an alternate, broke the 30-minute barrier for the first time at 8K, capping a season of week-over-week improvement. Sophomore Dan Donnelly (Portsmouth, R.I.) posted his fastest 8K of the season, running in his first regional championship meet.

"I am most encouraged that five of our seven runners from this meet are eligible to return next year," McGuinness said. "They have gained valuable experience this fall. The future looks very bright."

Salve Regina performances included:

178. Billy Martin – 27:43.47
261. Riley Rancourt – 29:06.90
270. David Napierkowski – 29:15.23
274 Andrew Sardelli – 29:21.57
283. Jay Brennan – 29:33.42
301. Chandler Da Cruz – 29:59.95
308. Dan Donnelly – 30:11.64

The Seahawks finished 42nd of 56 scoring teams, with 61 men's programs represented in the meet. The team's combined time of 2:25:00.59 is the second-fastest performance in a regional meet in program history.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Williams College tied for first place with team scores of 110. MIT was awarded the tiebreaker. Tufts University senior Tim Nichols won the individual title with a time of 23:54.58.

The regional meet marks the end of the 2016 racing season for Salve Regina.

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Courtesy of Rob McGuinness