This past Friday, the University of Rhode Island cross country team traveled to Boston to compete in the Battle at Beantown.
As a team, the Rams placed 12th out of 14 schools, but the Rams did distance themselves from the bottom of the pack. The 128 score gap between the 12th place Rams and 13th place University of Albany was larger than the score gap between the Rams and the 8th place University of Connecticut Huskies. It was Harvard University who won the Battle at Beantown with a score of 49 and the host school, Boston College, placed 11th with a score of 273, just 10 points less than the Rams.
This was the third meet of the season for the Rams, and their first since Sept. 8 when they competed in the Friar Invitational in Attleboro, Massachusetts. At the Friar Invitational, the Rams finished fifth out of the six schools competing. They were led by fifth-year Ben Fleischer who had the best finish for the Rams, finishing seventh out of a field of 57 runners. That was Fleischer’s second top-10 finish this season. Fleischer won the Rams’ first meet of the season at the Rothenberg Run back on Sept. 1. The Rothenberg Run was actually Fleischer’s first cross country win of his decorated career at URI.
At the Battle in Beantown, Fleischer continued his strong start to the season, completing the 8k run in 24:31.2 minutes. That was Fleischer’s career best in the 8k. That time was good enough for 19th place out of the 142 runners that placed in Boston.
Fleischer has competed for URI’s cross country team since 2019, and based on results, this has been the best start to a season for him. Fleischer attributed this to his experience.
“It’s been a really good start to my season,” Fleischer said. “I’ve had some of my best finishes ever, I’m a lot older now than when I started, I know a lot more in terms of feeling my body, being prepared for the races, and being able to execute our team’s race plan.”
According to Fleischer, his confidence has grown in these past couple of seasons and not just within himself but the team as a whole.
“[I’m] feeling more confident in not only my ability but in our team’s ability to race well and do what we’re supposed to do week in and week out,” said Fleischer.
The Rams’ cross country team is relatively young this season. Of the seven athletes who competed in Boston this past Friday three are first-year student athletes. Nick Martin had the best finish of the three first-years, finishing 55th with a time of 25:16.1 minutes. The rest of the athletes who competed for the Rams are made up of two second-years and one third-year.
Harvard, Albany and Boston College make up just some of the large schools that competed at Franklin Park in the Battle at Beantown. Other colleges include Auburn University, Syracuse, and Texas A&M. According to URI assistant coach Ben Doyle, having an experienced runner like Fleischer at this event is important for the underclassmen.
“Ben is a confident kid and what that means is he knows what it takes to win at these big races,” said Doyle. “He looks at the uniforms and knows those are just other guys.”
Being able to stay in the moment in larger meets is important, especially as the cross country team starts their championship season, according to Doyle. This Saturday, the Rams will travel back to Franklin Park to compete in the New England Championship. While the Rams haven’t won the event since 1952, Doyle believes that his team will have a real chance this year.
“That is the level where we can be more in contention,” Doyle said about the difference between the Battle at Beantown and the New England Championship. “There are about three to four teams that can win it and we’re one of them.”
The New England Championship is an 8k run compared to the 6k runs that the team starts their season with. The Rams don’t see this as a challenge, but as a chance to show off the hard work that they put in throughout the season, according to Doyle. He said that the increase in difficulty as the season progresses is a part of the Rams’ team philosophy.
“Make normal what you perceive to be difficult,” said Doyle. “For us the 6k is a nice intro, but it is to be honest, a different sport at the end of the year than it is at the beginning of the year.”
The Rams hope to conquer that different sport and achieve their first win at the New England Championship in 71 years. That meet will be an all-day event on Saturday back at Franklin Park in Boston, Massachusetts. It will be the first of three straight championship meets for the Rams.