Steady pacing pays for Martin at Connecticut College Invitational

WATERFORD, Conn. – Salve Regina senior Billy Martin (West Islip, N.Y.) led the Seahawks against a high-quality field at the Connecticut College Invitational on Saturday. Martin, running in the No. 1 spot for the fourth time this fall, finished the 8K race in 27:31.9.

Martin took a conservative approach to the opening miles, keeping his pace around 5:35 per mile as the field of 240 settled into place on the grass course at Harkness Memorial State Park. He split 17:07 for 5K and overtook multiple opponents in the closing 3K.

"Billy executed well today," said head coach Rob McGuinness. "He stuck to his plan, and it definitely paid off."

Juniors Andrew Sardelli (Hope Valley, R.I.) and Scott Brewer (Wilbraham, Mass.) were the next to finish for Salve Regina, crossing the line at 29:03.9 and 29:11.1. Junior David Napierkowski (Cheshire, Conn.) and senior Jay Brennan (North Haven, Conn.) rounded out the scoring at 29:23.1 and 29:27.0.

The field of 22 teams included three of the top 10 in New England – Middlebury (5), Connecticut College (8) and Tufts (6) – along with two ranked teams from other regions – Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (No.2, West) and York (No. 6, Mideast). Claremont-Mudd-Scripps won the team title with a score of 79. Tufts senior Tim Nichols won the individual championship with a time of 24:11.1 in the 8K.

Salve Regina performances included:
117. Billy Martin – 27:31.9
171. Andrew Sardelli – 29:03.9
175. Scott Brewer – 29:11.1
188. Dave Napierkowski – 29:23.1
190. Jay Brennan – 29:27.0
196. Riley Rancourt – 29:39.1
212. Brett Jutras – 30:49.0
217. Chandler Da Cruz – 31:20.3
222. Neil Sheehan – 31:46.6
223. Brendan Kelly – 31:47.9
224. Kevin Onofreo – 31:48.3
229. John Lutz – 33:02.5
240. Jack Farrell – 41:56.5

The Seahawks return to action on Oct. 29 at the Commonwealth Coast Conference Championship.

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Courtesy of Rob McGuinness