The University of Rhode Island cross country team traveled to Hopkinton, New Hampshire on Friday to defend their New England Championship title.
Last year, the Rams won their first New England Championship since 1952, but this time around the field was a lot tougher, according to Brian Doyle, URI’s long distance coach. Led by two underclassmen, the Rams finished in third place with 108 points. Central Connecticut State University finished with 38 points and Providence College finished in second place with 75 points.
The top finisher for the Rams was second-year Garrett Hartline, who finished fifth with a time of 24:32.68. Hartline was followed by second-year Nick Martin, who finished in ninth place with a time of 24:46.84. Both of those underclassmen set new personal bests in this 8-kilometer race and found a way to stand out in a field of 207 runners. Hartline was the first non-upperclassmen to finish the race, while CCSU had three fourth-year athletes place in the top six.
“Definitely really encouraging for Nick and Garrett, those guys are ready to take off,” Doyle said. “They are really ready to get going for the championship season.”
Martin is looking forward to the opportunity for him and Hartline to step into the role left behind by former Ram, Ben Fleischer, ‘24.
“That really excites me honestly…last year Ben was our leader and under him we were still learning and I felt so new,” Martin said. “The team kind of stands behind us now so I guess seeing what the two of us are capable of…it’s really exciting.”
Those two are leading what is one of the most talented teams in program history into championship season, according to both Doyle and Martin.
The New England Championship is just one of four potential championship meets that the Rams will compete in. They have the Atlantic 10, Regionals and National Championship still ahead of them. In terms of importance, the Rams are focused on the A-10 Championship more than anything and it reflects in their training according to Doyle. The Rams’ coaching staff have the team on a strict training regime, according to Doyle, and this regime didn’t change even with the change to the date of the New England Championship. Originally scheduled for Oct.12, the meet was moved up a day, affecting the timing for the team’s recovery.
“We did a hard workout two days before this meet and usually that would be three or four days,” Doyle said. “Mentally maybe they just didn’t feel as fresh.”
Even with the team still feeling the effects of those hard workouts, they still felt as though they could make adjustments.
“I think one thing is I would like to be faster or a little bit quicker in the shorter stuff,” Doyle said. “So guys feel a little more comfortable running five miles, and a five-minute mile doesn’t feel fast, so that’s one thing we will work on this week.”
With 16 days until the A-10 Championship, the Rams will have a lot of time to work on this and scout the rest of the field. The A-10 has improved this season, according to Doyle, and several schools around the conference have had excellent seasons so far. Doyle is still confident about the way his team stacks up against the field.
“Loyola is pretty far in front of everyone right now; they’re one of the top teams in the country right now,” Doyle said. “But after that I think anyone is beatable. There are a lot of good teams like UMass or La Salle but our guys know on a good day we can compete for a podium spot.”
Martin is also confident in this team’s ability to compete for an A-10 title after a seventh place finish last season.
“We have as good a shot as anyone to be better than we were last year,” Martin said. “I think the back end of our squad is a lot closer together and more consistent right now than we were at this time last year.”
Rhode Island will have a chance to compete for a spot on the podium at the Atlantic 10 Championship on Nov. 2 in Mechanicsville, Virginia.