Seahawks take first at Endicott

SOUTH HAMILTON, Mass. – The Salve Regina women's cross country team placed three scorers in the top 10 and its entire varsity seven inside the top 20 to capture the team championship at the Endicott College Cross Country Invitational on Saturday.

Freshman Bre Shipman (New Caanan, Conn.), senior Cate Norton (Sandy Hook, Conn.) and sophomore Heather McKee (Churchton, Md.) led the charge for the Seahawks, finishing at Nos. 8, 9 and 10 in the field of 79 runners. Senior Christina Moran (Oceanside, N.Y.) and freshman Avery Braccia (Bristol, Conn.) completed the scoring for Salve Regina.

The meet marked the Seahawks' second showdown of the season with Endicott College and Gordon College. The three teams met on Sept. 1 in the Battle of the North Shore, with Endicott earning a one-point victory over its Commonwealth Coast Conference rivals. This time, Salve Regina would prevail with 57 points, with Gordon (63) second and Endicott (68) third.

Gordon's Rachel Brennan raced to a commanding lead on the first loop of the trails at Bradley Palmer State Park. The speedy sophomore would set the pace throughout, finishing the 5,000-meter course in 20:00, nearly a minute ahead of her next closest competitors. The Scots' second and third runners – Carolyn Day, Abigail Baier – finished third and sixth overall.

Unofficial scores tallied around 2,000 meters and 3,000 meters showed Salve Regina with an edge over the field. The Seahawks held five consecutive spots in the top 15 at one observation point. But Endicott mounted a charge in the final mile, breaking up the Salve Regina pack and leaving spectators, coaches and competitors to wonder about the outcome of the meet.

Norton and Shipman paced the Seahawks on the opening loop of the technical, wooded trails, with the chase pack of McKee, Moran and Braccia not far behind. Shipman assumed the No. 1 spot in the final mile and McKee made a late surge to ensure a top-10 individual finish.

Freshman Delaney Marek (Northampton, Mass.) and sophomore Lindsey Sirois (Washington Twp., N.J.) provided valuable displacement points in running sixth and seventh for Salve Regina. Both Marek and Sirois finished ahead of the fourth and fifth runners from Gordon, helping the Seahawks preserve their narrow margin of victory.

Salve Regina performances included:

8. Bre Shipman – 21:36
9. Cate Norton – 22:01
10. Heather McKee – 22:08
14. Christina Moran – 22:22
16. Avery Braccia – 22:53
18. Delaney Marek – 22:57
19. Lindsey Sirois – 22:59
20. Olivia Forbes – 22:59
25. Izabella Kuczorski – 23:21
28. Kaelyn Fidrocki – 23:30
29. Sarah Hauptman – 24:09
31. Taryn Terracino – 24:17
35. Jenna French – 24:52
37. Bridget Esposito – 24:53
41. Paige McDade – 25:21
42. Emma Cote – 25:30
45. Nicole Nenninger – 25:53
47. Maya Baldauf – 26:11
57. Juliana Petronio – 26:57
61. Jackie Kelly – 27:20

The Seahawks return to action on Sept. 18 in the Pop Crowell Invitational at Gordon College.