Hughes, Martin set pace as Seahawks’ season kicks off
HENNIKER, N.H. – Junior Sean Hughes (Old Saybrook, Conn.) and sophomore Billy Martin (West Islip, N.Y.) led Salve Regina to a fourth-place finish in the Mayflower Kickoff on Friday. Hughes, who finished sixth in 17:09, and Martin, who was 15th in 17:31, found success with dramatically different tactics on the 5K course.
Hughes surged toward the front of the pack at the start, battling with a group that included Will Nemeth of Babson, Zak Kinsman of Maine Maritime Academy and Jered Bedard of Norwich University. Hughes settled into sixth place and held his spot the rest of the way.
Martin, however, wasn't even in position to score for the Seahawks after the opening mile. The sophomore waited until the second half of the race to make his moves, passing dozens of runners as the course doubled back through the trails on the New England College campus.
Two freshmen played a major role in the scoring for Salve Regina, with Austin Sattler (Guilford, Conn.) and David Napierkowski (Cheshire, Conn.) running at No. 3 and No. 4. Sattler finished in 17:57 and Napierkowski finished in 18:08. Both were inside the top 30 in the field of 138 runners.
"I'm pleased to see where our team stands at this early point in the season. Sean and Billy did a fine job of getting into the competitive mix, and Austin and David look to be highly valuable additions to our team," said head coach Rob McGuinness. "We're poised for continued improvement this year, and I'm looking to those four to set the pace."
Sophomore Daniel Regan (Westford, Mass.) was the No. 5 runner for the Seahawks, crossing the finish line at 18:11. Sophomore Jay Brennan (North Haven, Conn.,) and freshman Andrew Sardelli (Hope Valley, R.I.) rounded out the top seven for Salve Regina. The team combined for a five-man time of 1:28:57, the second-fastest 5K result in program history. (The school record, 1:28:22, was set at the Mayflower Kickoff in 2013.)
Salve Regina finished fourth overall with a team score of 105. Babson College won the meet with 57 points and Colby-Sawyer College finished second with 65, behind a 1-2 finish from Hayden Bunnell (16:17) and Benjamin Bunnell (16:19). Norwich University was third with 75 points.
Other Salve Regina finishers included:
Sophomore Anthony Tandy (Hopedale, Mass.) – 19:01
Junior Slater Roosa (Woodbury, Conn.) – 19:04
Freshman Scott Brewer (Wilbraham, Mass.) – 19:06
Freshman John Lutz (Ringwood, N.J.) – 19:16
Freshman Collin Travassos (Barrington, R.I.) – 19:21
Sophomore Tyler Torelli (Ledyard, Conn.) – 19:43
Junior Ben Campbell (Carolina, R.I.) – 20:31
Junior Daniel LaBrie (East Providence, R.I.) – 21:10
Junior Matthew Sinkewicz (Colchester, Conn.) – 21:29
Senior Jack Simpson (Lynn, Mass.) – 21:58
Freshman Neil Sheehan (Methuen, Mass.) – 22:30
Junior Dean Wollenberg (Hopkinton, R.I.) – 23:45
Freshman Alexander Wojtkowiak (Ashaway, R.I.) – 24:45
The Seahawks return to action at the Trinity Invitational in Manchester, Conn., on Sept. 6.
Full results:
http://www.coolrunning.com/results/14/nh/Aug29_Mayflo_set1.shtml
