Ben Fleischer finished 47th, the highest mark of any Rhody runner in the modern era. PHOTO CREDIT: gorhody.com
On Friday, the University of Rhode Island’s men’s cross country team competed in the NCAA regional championships at Columbia University in New York City, NY., and finished in 20th place.
This is the school’s second-best finish in the last two decades. With a total of 591 points, URI finished 4 places ahead of New England rival UNH (24th) and only 3 spots behind UMass (17th). Syracuse University finished in first place with a score of 65.
Leading the charge was senior Ben Flesicher, who set a school record with a 47th place finish and a time of 30:44:0 in the 10k race.
“That’s our best (performance) ever, in this new modern format” Assistant Coach Brian Doyle said. “It’s a great platform for him to head into track season.”
Following behind Fleischer were Tyler Rubush (86th), and Eric Zulkofske (105th) with times of 31:24.9 and 31:45.5 respectively.
Following Zulkofske was freshman Lars Hogne, who finished 178th with a time of 33:26.3. Rounding out the top six for Rhody were Cole Baker (33:51.2) and Nathan Masi (34:11.3).
This event would be the last cross country event for the pair of graduate students, and as they begin to reflect on their time as cross country runners for the Rams, they couldn’t be more grateful for everything the program has done for them.
“I’d say it’s been probably the best decision I’ve made,” Rubush said. “The experiences and learning opportunities I got from URI were incredible.”
“I’ve made friends for life on the team, I learned a ton about not only myself but just about life in general and how to be a better person on and off the track.” Zulkofske said. Zulkofske will continue to run for the University as a part of the track and field team.
The appreciation goes both ways, as Assistant Coach Brian Doyle expressed his appreciation for everything the duo has done for the team.
“If it wasn’t for those guys, we wouldn’t have grown the way we did,” Doyle said. “They raised the bar for expectations here and showed everyone that URI is a place where we can do some damage and really make an impact on the A-10 level, the New England level and the Northeast level.”
When asked if the team had reached their goals set at the beginning of the season, Doyle felt it was a mixed bag.
“No, the goals for this year in this region were that we wanted to be the best ever (in URI history),” Doyle said. “Some ups and some downs but obviously there were more positives than negatives.”
Heading into the Track and Field season, Doyle, Zulkofske, and Fleischer will all be participating and hope to build upon the foundation they laid during the cross country season.
“We just want to keep building on what we did in the fall,” Rubush said. “We want to keep getting better to try and make history at URI.”