Cran, Lynch lead Seahawks at Pop Crowell Invitational

WENHAM, Mass. – Freshman Greg Cran (Wrentham, Mass.) and sophomore Aidan Lynch (Little Silver, N.J.) were the frontrunners for Salve Regina on Saturday, leading the men's cross country team to a ninth-place finish in the Pop Crowell Invitational at Gordon College. 

Cran and junior Brett Jutras (East Bridgewater, Mass.) found themselves in the top 50 after the first 4,000-meter loop of the roads and trails on the Gordon campus, with a Seahawk pack of Lynch, junior Chandler Da Cruz (Middletown, R.I.) and senior Dan Donnelly (Portsmouth, R.I.) not far behind. 

Jutras took a fall in the third mile that left him bloodied and bruised, but still pressing forward. Lynch overtook his wounded teammate on the second loop and caught up to Cran, and the two pushed toward the finish line. Both men finished at 29:53.3. Jutras crossed the line at 30:39.7. Da Cruz and Donnelly completed the scoring for Salve Regina. 

The University of New England placed four scorers in the top 10 en route to a commanding win over the Wentworth Institute of Technology. UNE sophomore Jacob Hickey won the individual championship with a time of 25:36.1. There were 139 runners and 16 complete teams in the field. 

Gordon College will host the Commonwealth Coast Conference Championship later this season. The meet on Saturday afforded Salve Regina – and the six other CCC schools in the field – an opportunity to preview the course that they will run on Oct. 27. 

Salve Regina performances included: 
40. Aidan Lynch – 29:53.3
41. Greg Cran – 29:53.3
55. Brett Jutras – 30:39.7
60. Chandler Da Cruz – 30:55.2
71. Dan Donnelly – 31:55.1
74. Richard Stanley – 31:58.
88. Brendan Clancey – 33:03.3
99. Brendan Kelly – 33:54.3

The Seahawks return to action on Saturday at the Tri-State Invitational hosted by the Community College of Rhode Island.