Norton paces Seahawks to first place finish at Elms Invitational

CHICOPEE, Mass. - Senior Caroline Norton (Portland, Conn.) finished second overall with a time of 19:49 to lead the Salve Regina University women's cross country team to a first place finish at the Elms Invitational on Saturday morning. The Seahawks defeated 14 other schools in the meet, including Commonwealth Coast  (CCC) foes such as the Univerity of New England, Curry College, and Eastern Nazarene College.

Norton, who is the reigning CCC female runner of the week,  ran at a 6:23 pace and was one of four Salve Regina runners to finish in the top ten. Joining her were sophomore Ema Waldschmidt (Verbank, N.Y.) in fourth place (20:02), junior Alexis Gallipoli (Branford, Conn.) in sixth place (20:19), and sophomore Kayley Ryan (Portland, Conn.) in eighth place (20:31).

Junior Mallory Goding (Cumberland, Maine) finished just outside the top ten in 11th place with a time of 20:40, while Taylor Rosendale (Grafton, Mass.) and sophomore Joanna Accorsini (Mendon, Mass.) also ran well with times of 20:50 and 22:20, respectively.

These times become even more impressive when one takes into consideration the difficulty of the course at Chicopee Regional State Park and the wet and humid weather conditions in which these athletes competed.

The Seahawks will race again next Saturday when they take part in the Pop Crowell Invitational at Gordon College starting at 11 a.m.