Posted: Nov 16, 2013

Best for last for Salve Regina's Varone

Victoria Varone completed her outstanding fall season with her fastest 6K of the year.

GORHAM, Maine – Salve Regina freshman Victoria Varone (Providence, R.I.) ran her fastest 6K of the season in leading the Seahawks to a 26th place finish in the NCAA Division III New England Regional Championship on Saturday. Varone crossed the finish line at 23:23.99 to place 95th in the field of 371 runners.

Varone found herself in good position at the start of the race, covering the opening mile in 5:50. When the field finished its first loops around the course at Narragansett Elementary School, Varone was comfortably inside the top 100. She held steady around 90th place in the subsequent loops, reaching three miles at 18:40. Her finishing time stands at No. 3 on Salve Regina's all-time list for 6,000 meters.

Senior Ema Waldschmidt (Verbank, N.Y.), freshman Nicole Schafer (Manorville, N.Y.) and senior Kayley Ryan (Portland, Conn.) led the scoring charge at No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4, finishing at 24:29.77, 24:34.44 and 24:46.38. Waldschmidt ran her opening mile in 6:08, with Schafer and Ryan not far behind at 6:18. Waldschmidt and Schafer settled well inside the top half of the field, placing at 158 and 161 overall. Ryan finished at 171.

Freshman Alannah O'Rourke (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) rounded out the scoring for Salve Regina, crossing the finish line at 25:38.07. Freshmen Amy Irving (Bohemia, N.Y.) and Sam Gisonni (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) were the sixth and seventh runners, finishing at 25:38.09 and 26:22.43.

The Seahawks' scoring five combined for a team time of 2:02:52.65 – an average of 24:34.53 per runner – for the team's best 6K effort of the season. Salve Regina finished ahead of 27 complete teams and improved its regional finish by two positions over 2012.

Williams College placed four runners in the top 10, and all five scorers in the top 20, to capture the team title with a score of 44. Middlebury (57) finished second and MIT (127) finished third. Kaleigh Kenny of Williams was the overall winner, covering the 6K course in 21:02.18.

Click here to view complete results from the meet.

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GORHAM, Maine – When Salve Regina senior Ema Waldschmidt (Verbank, N.Y.) crossed the finish line at the NCAA Division III New England Regional Championship on Saturday, she put the finishing touches on a remarkably consistent collegiate racing career.

In 37 meets as a Seahawk, Waldschmidt has always been a member of Salve Regina's top seven. The two-year captain was part of the scoring five in 36 of 37 races, contributing to the team and improving her performance over the course of four years.

Waldschmidt was the Seahawks' No. 1 runner in four races – once in 2010, three times in 2012 – and spent most of her time in the No. 2 spot, finishing as the second scorer 14 times in four years. She also placed at No. 3 (seven times), No. 4 (six times) No. 5 (four times) and No. 6 (once).

"Ema has been a reliable contributor throughout her career at Salve Regina," said head coach David Kraszewski. "What's most impressive is that she has continually improved. As the team has become more competitive, she has taken her racing to a new level."

Waldschmit lowered her 6K personal best from 25:17 as a freshman to 23:20 as a junior. Her fastest 6K –23:20, at the 2012 Commonwealth Coast Conference Championship – stands at No. 2 on the university's all-time list for 6,000 meters. Her fastest collegiate 5K – 19:16.4 at the 2012 Pop Crowell Invitational – is one of the five fastest 5Ks run by a Seahawk in the last five years.

She's been an integral part of some important moments in program history, scoring as the No. 3 runner on the CCC championship squad in 2011 and contributing to seven invitational team titles over the last four years. Waldschmidt, an all-CCC honoree in 2012, has also been part of many of the fastest 5K and 6K combined team times ever run at Salve Regina.

"There is no question that Ema has made her mark on our program. She's been such an important part of our team and the success we've had in recent years," Kraszewski said. "She's a great leader, a hard worker, and someone we could always depend on. It will be tough to replace her next year."

Salve Regina Women's Cross Country
Top 10 Performances: 6,000 Meters

1. Aubrey Palmquist – 23:19.0 (CCC Championship, Western New England - 2012)
2. Ema Waldschmidt – 23:20.0 (CCC Championship, Western New England - 2012)
3. Victoria Varone – 23:23.99 (NCAA DIII Regional, Gorham, Maine – 2013)
4. Caroline Norton – 23:24.5 (NCAA DIII Regional, Bowdoin – 2011)
5. Paige Palotto – 23:25 (Connecticut College Invitational – 2009)
6. Aubrey Palmquist – 23:27.6 (NCAA DIII Regional, Westfield State – 2012)
7. Paige Palotto – 23:31 (CCC Championship, Western New England – 2009)
8. Caroline Norton – 23:35 (CCC Championship, Colt State Park – 2011)
9. Paige Palotto – 23:40.3 (NCAA DIII Regional, Southern Maine – 2009)
10. Victoria Varone – 23:46.54 (ECAC Championship, Colt State Park – 2013)

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