Salve Regina starts at the Mayflower kickoff

NEWPORT, R.I. - While the Pilgrims settled throughout New England and the Mayflower arrived near Plymouth, Mass., the Seahawks will be running in the Mayflower Kickoff event hosted by the Pilgrims of New England College at Henniker, N.H., later this month.

First-year head coach Rob McGuinness favors the familiarity on his schedule because it "gives the upperclassmen an opportunity to gauge their year-over-year performance. We also have a few chances for our B-team to represent the program. That's a major benefit of carrying a large roster. It's not just numbers - it's depth. The runners at No. 8 to No. 14 on our team are certainly capable athletes, and I am interested to see what they can do in leading roles."

Salve Regina has only one Friday event (the Mayflower Kickoff) while all the other races compete on Saturdays.

McGuinness added that his schedule provides good exposure to conference and regional competition, and there are several opportunities to race against some very good teams. "The Trinity Invitational often draws a competitive field for an early-season meet and the UMass Dartmouth Invitational is always a high-quality event. We'll see some of our CCC opponents at Gordon and Western New England. We had a great deal of success in invitational meets in 2013, and we aim to rise to that level of performance again this year."

Gordon College will host the CCC Championships on November 1 in Wenham, Mass.