Seahawks climb 10 places from 2012

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Sophomore Sean Hughes (Old Saybrook, Conn.) set the pace as Salve Regina finished sixth in the Western New England Invitational on Saturday. The meet marks another much-improved team performance for the Seahawks, who finished 16th in this invitational a year ago.

Westfield State University and Lyndon State College battled for the team title, with each squad placing four runners in the top 10. The Owls' fifth man finished 11 spots ahead of the Hornets' fifth, giving Westfield State the edge. Westfield State won with 37 points, Lyndon State was second with 42; and Clark was third with 105.

Hughes applied a familiar strategy on the 8K course, with a moderate start that put him among the top 30 in the opening mile. When the front-runners left the trails that made up the middle miles, Hughes was battling for a spot in the top 15 with runners from Clark and Westfield State. Hughes finished 15th of 190, crossing the line at 27:26.

Freshmen Billy Martin (West Islip, N.Y.) and Tyler Torelli (Ledyard, Conn.) both placed among the top 50, finishing at 28:18 and 28:53. Freshman Anthony Tandy (Hopedale, Mass.) and sophomore Slater Roosa (Woodbury, Conn.) rounded out the scoring five at 29:39 and 29:48. Freshmen Daniel Regan (Westford, Mass.) and Jay Brennan (North Haven, Conn.) were the Seahawks' sixth and seven runners, crossing the finish line at 30:15 and 30:30.

"Each week, this team makes progress. We're so much more competitive than we were a year ago, and that's a credit to the work that our top guys have done this season," said assistant coach Rob McGuinness. "We've asked a lot of our freshmen, and Billy, Tyler, Anthony, Dan and Jay have responded well. This is a group that is only going to get better."

Other Salve Regina finishers included:
Freshman Kevin Onofreo (Middlefield, Conn.) – 31:41
Sophomore Ben Campbell (Carolina, R.I.) – 32:04
Sophomore Matthew Sinkewicz (Colchester, Conn.) – 32:05
Freshman Matt Mascari (Bordentown, N.Y.) – 32:17
Junior Jack Simpson (Lynn, Mass.) – 32:52
Sophomore Dan LaBrie (East Providence, R.I.) – 34:21
Sophomore Dean Wollenberg (Hopkinton, R.I.) – 38:09

Click here to view meet results via coolrunning.com.

The Seahawks return to action on Saturday, Nov. 2 at the Commonwealth Coast Conference Championship at the University of New England in Biddeford, Maine.

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Courtesy of Rob McGuinness