Piccone led her team to a sixth place finish in the New England Championships, their best since 2005. PHOTO CREDIT: Hannah Charron| Staff Photographer
With the sheer size of the competitive field at cross country events, dominance is hard to come by. However, when it comes to University of Rhode Island second-year student Sofia Piccone, dominance is the only way to describe the beginning of her second year.
After having a successful first year, earning Atlantic 10 rookie of the week honors in September of 2022, Piccone started off her second year in grand fashion, leading Rhode Island to second- and first-place finishes in their first two outings. Head Coach Laurie Feit-Melnick has been quite pleased with the beginning of Piccone’s short career and credits it to her incredible focus day in and day out.
“She has been amazing for us,” Feit-Melnick said. “She is a leader for our team. She just comes to work every day focused and she gets better every day.”
Piccone placed second overall in both of the two competitions. She attributed the early success of both her and the team simply to chemistry.
“This year we’ve had such a positive attitude and vibe going at practice,” Piccone said. “We’ve had a really strong season and I think the team aspect of running is so important and I think that this year that really helped.”
Piccone’s journey is not a long one, but the reason the Pennsylvania native attended URI was not only to run.
“I’m a marine biology major so I first found out about Rhode Island because of the marine biology program because I wanted to be close to the ocean,” Piccone said.
However, within the realms of commitment, more than one variable has to be present to convince an athlete to spend four years of their life with a team. For Piccone, it was the team environment that drew her in.
“I feel like the team’s really welcoming atmosphere and Coach Feit-Melnick was really friendly, so I feel like they made me feel like it was definitely a good fit for me,” Piccone said.
Now in her third semester, Piccone has enjoyed her time at Rhode Island not only on the track, but in the classroom as well.
“There’s definitely a lot of marine bio opportunities, I’m doing research in one of the labs here and I really like my classes,” Piccone said.
With a lot of time left in her NCAA eligibility, Piccone has plenty of space to accomplish goals in her time at Rhode Island. Most of her aspirations for the near future are in running, but she hopes that the progress she makes athletically extends to the classroom as well.
“One of my goals this year was to work on the mental side of running, which I feel is something a lot of people don’t usually see,” Piccone said. “I feel like a lot of running is having a positive attitude and I kind of feel like that carries into classes as well.”
Beyond personal goals, Feit-Melnick feels the second-year runner has a lot to accomplish both individually and with the team with her remaining eligibility.
“We have a super young and focused group, she is a huge part of that,” Feit-Melnick said. “The sky’s the limit for her and this group.”
Even though Piccone has worked hard in the classroom and on the track, she continues to be thankful for the opportunities given to her, and she is dedicated to using those opportunities for the better.
“Just wanting to be here and being grateful for the opportunity to be here is really important and I think that for me, that has helped, and going forward I just want to enjoy my time here,” Piccone said.
With all of the opportunities Piccone has had and all of the opportunities she has in her future, the light at the end of the track is bright for her.