Molly Sabia finished 22nd to help the Rams beat third placed UMass Boston. PHOTO CREDIT: gorhody.com
The University of Rhode Island Women’s Cross Country team finished second out of three teams at the Rothenberg-Brown Invite in a tune-up for the Atlantic 10 Championships.
The hosting Brown Bears took the victory, finishing 30 points ahead of the Rams and logging four of the top six finishers, while UMass Boston finished in third.
Second-year Sofia Piccone finished seventh as the Rams’ highest finisher, crossing the line in 11:13.2. Piccone said she was happy with her performance but was happier about her team’s performance in preparation for the upcoming conference championships.
“We have just been doing a really good job of running as a team,” Piccone said. “We just want to continue to do that next weekend.”
Piccone was followed by fourth-year Hannah O’Connor (11:20.8), second-year Lindsay Turgeon (11:28.9), second-year Erin Hurley (11:31.8) and fourth-year Daniella Napoli (11:32.0), who finished in 11th, 13th, 16th and 17th, respectively.
The Rams’ top eight was rounded out by third-years Corina Vidal (11:42.2) and Molly Sabia (11:44.3) and first-year Olivia Skapczynski (11:56.5), who all finished in the top 23. That helped the Rams (46 points) clear the third place Beacons (85) by nearly 40 points to finish comfortably in second place.
All Rams that participated finished in the top 30, with third-years Sophia Dimuccio (12:06.5) and Brynne Wright (12:16.6) and first-year Lindsay Arends (12:54.7) finishing in 25th, 26th and 28th to cap off the day for Rhody.
There was only a 43-second difference between first and seventh place for Rhody. Head coach Laurie Feit-Melnick was proud of how her team ended the regular season, taking the time to reflect on the joy she had coaching this group.
“It’s just such a hard-working group,” she said. “We did a great job of just continuing to race as a team. We have practices at 7 a.m., they enjoy that. It makes it a lot easier as a coach when you have a group like that.”
Piccone echoed the statement, citing her team’s camaraderie on the course as the main catalyst for their success.
“We really look forward to running with each other no matter when it is,” Piccone said. “It makes it a lot easier when we race because we just enjoy it.”
The Rams now look to the postseason, starting with the Atlantic 10 Championship meet in Richmond, Va. this weekend. Feit-Melnick feels the team has already done the hard work and can now enjoy the rewards of that.
“The Atlantic 10 is a great conference,” Feit-Melnick said. “We just want to go out there and have some fun, and the results will come.”
The Rams open up the conference championship meet at 11 a.m. on Oct. 29, and Feit-Melnick and Piccone are confident they will be ready to go when the time comes.
“We just want to keep building on our success,” Feit-Melnick said. “We have a young group, so just getting the experience and just letting our work show will be fun to watch.”