Irving, Demeo pace Seahawks in regional championship meet

WATERFORD, Conn. – Junior Amy Irving (Bohemia, N.Y.) and freshman Alex Demeo (Burlington, Mass.) led Salve Regina to a 21st place finish in the NCAA Division III New England Regional Cross Country Championship on Saturday. There were 56 complete teams and 61 programs represented in the meet.

Irving was the first Seahawk across the finish line, crossing at 23:04.4 to place 65th in the field of 390 runners. Demeo, racing for just the second time at the 6K distance, posted a personal-best time of 23:51.8 to help pace Salve Regina on the grass and gravel course at Harkness Memorial State Park.

Senior captain Shannon Holden (Hingham, Mass.) ran at No. 3 for the Seahawks, crossing the finish line at 24:18.9, and junior Taylor Ricker (Rocky Point, N.Y.) and sophomore Olivia Wilson (Bethel, Conn.) rounded out the scoring at 24:37.5 and 24:41.6.

Senior captain Jackie Ofria (Manchester, Conn.) and junior captain Victoria Varone (Providence, R.I.) were the sixth and seventh runners for Salve Regina, finishing at 24:42.8 and 24:50.5.

The Seahawks posted a team score of 654, the second-lowest total among Salve Regina's last 20 appearances in the regional meet, while the combined team time of 2:00:34.6 is team's fastest performance in a regional meet. The team's all-time best finish (18th) and lowest score (575) happened in 2014.

Williams College placed four scorers in the top 10 and captured the team title with 44 points. Tufts University finished second (107), Middlebury College placed third (108) and MIT was fourth (114). MIT junior Maryann Gong won the individual title, crossing the finish line at 21:36.3.

The regional meet marks the end of the 2015 cross country campaign for Salve Regina.