Posted: Oct 15, 2016

Irving, Varone set pace as Seahawks smash school record

The leader of the pack: Amy Irving (#464) in her first collegiate race of 2016. (Photo by Jen McGuinness)

WATERFORD, Conn. – Seniors Amy Irving (Bohemia, N.Y.) and Victoria Varone (Providence, R.I.) led the Seahawks to an eighth-place finish in the Connecticut College Invitational on Saturday, setting the pace in a record-setting run for Salve Regina University women's cross country.

Irving (22) and Varone (39) finished inside the top 40 in the field of 250, crossing the finish line at 22:35.3 and 23:10.3. The remaining Seahawk scorers – senior Taylor Ricker (Rocky Point, N.Y.), junior Olivia Wilson (Bethel, Conn.) and freshman Cianna Lynch (Cranston, R.I.) – finished at 23:41.7, 23:49.9 and 24:06.9, giving the group a combined team time of 1:57:24.1 and breaking the program record at 6K.

Among the scorers, Varone, Ricker, Wilson and Lynch all posted season- and personal-best performances on the grass course at Harkness Memorial State Park. The previous team time record at 6K – 1:57:45.1 – was set by Irving, Shannon Holden '16, Wilson, Varone and Ricker at the Commonwealth Coast Conference Championship in 2015.

"Our lineup ran an incredible race against a high quality field, and I'm proud that they put their names in the program record book today," said head coach Rob McGuinness. "It is encouraging to see the varsity regulars running so well at this point in the season. Things are coming together nicely."

The field included three of the top 10 teams in New England – Tufts (4), Middlebury (3) and Brandeis (7) – and two ranked teams from outside of the region – Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (No. 4, West) and DeSales (No. 5, Mideast) – as well as teams from Pennsylvania and Iowa.

Tufts topped the field of 22 teams with a score of 63, followed by Middlebury (70) and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (78). Middlebury sophomore Abigail Nadler won the individual championship with a time of 21:24.5.

Salve Regina performances included:
22. Amy Irving – 22:35.3
39. Victoria Varone – 23:10.3
64. Taylor Ricker – 23:41.7
71. Olivia Wilson – 23:49.9
85. Cianna Lynch – 24:06.9
118. Alex Demeo – 24:38.4
138. Alexa Cipkas – 25:02.2
140. Olivia Owen – 25:03.2
169. Jessica Graham – 25:49.6
171. Alannah O'Rourke – 25:57.3
178. Rachel Sandri – 26:02.0
186. Ashley Schafer – 26:13.1
201. Hannah Lussier – 26:44.4
210. Nicole Schafer – 27:23.2
219. Molly Kittler – 27:48.4
233. Taylor Maddalena – 28:25.8
234. Finn Collins – 28:25.8
241. Tatiana Mehos – 28:50.1
248. Caroline Kelley – 29:50.8
252. Alexa Vargas – 30:58.0

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

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Courtesy of Rob McGuinness