The University of Rhode Island men’s cross country team competed in its third race of the season on Saturday at the Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America Championship, finishing sixth of 25 schools.
Rhode Island competed against several East Coast schools, including Atlantic 10 Conference rival Fordham University.
“The guys ran really well,” Rhode Island assistant coach Brian Doyle said. “We held our second and third guy for sickness and injury, so to be sixth in that field was great.”
Third-year Matt Lucas and fourth-year Garrett Hartline were the two athletes who did not run for the Rams on Saturday.
Rhode Island was led by fourth-year Nick Martin in the 8K race. Martin finished third overall with a final time of 23 minutes, 55.3 seconds.
“Nick has won a couple of conference titles already, so the plan for this weekend was to really push from about two miles out,” Doyle said. “His last 3K was about 8:40, so that’s under 4:40 per mile for the last two miles.”
Rhode Island had two other runners finish inside the top 25. Third-year Maddox Jordan finished in 24:30.0, claiming 17th. Second-year Ryan Kaiser placed 21st in 24:31.7.
To round out the top 100, Rhode Island’s third-year Jeremy Roe finished 50th in 24:54.4. Third-year Jason Padula finished 86th in 25:13.7.
“We just want to see improvement,” Doyle said. “The plan for everyone was to work hard those last two miles, and they did a great job. We’re seeing what we need to see from the young guys, and as long as they keep up that effort we’ll be in a good spot.”
Second-year Cole Francis and fourth-year Jesse Principe were the last two to score for Rhode Island. Francis finished 109th in 25:29.0, and Principe finished 122nd in 25:54.9.
Other Rams that competed were first-year Henri Rivard in 25:53.7; fourth-year Brayton Gazerro in 25:54.3; and second-year Matthew Ware in 26:00.3.
“It’s hurting for a little bit longer,” Doyle said. “A couple more hard workouts, a little bit of rest and we are trying to get to the podium for the second year in a row.”
Last year’s third-place finish at the conference championship matched the Rams’ best finish in program history. Rhode Island will return to the A10 Championship at Pole Green Park in Mechanicsville, Virginia, on Oct. 31, starting at 10:45 a.m.
