Fourth-year Nick Martin became the University of Rhode Island’s first-ever individual champion at the Atlantic 10 Conference Cross Country Championship on Saturday.
Martin finished the 8K race with a time of 23 minutes, 30.4 seconds, exactly two seconds ahead of runner-up fourth-year Jake Phillips of Loyola University Chicago. Martin’s time was a personal best as well as the fastest time at the event in conference history.
“I felt ecstatic, but also it was kind of a sense of relief,” Martin said. “That’s been one of my biggest goals since I’ve been here… I haven’t necessarily had things go my way in cross country. This year, to be able to actually do it and prove myself on that stage, it felt really good.”
Martin is a native Rhode Islander, hailing from East Greenwich. Every time Martin runs for URI, he is not only representing the school, but also his hometown and the people that support him, according to Martin.
“I think it means a lot to a lot of people outside myself, and I think that’s the best part of it,” Martin said. “Other kids in Rhode Island can be like, ‘Oh, that kid from Rhode Island can do it, why can’t I?’ I hope it inspires someone somewhere to go after their dreams like that.”
Second-year Ryan Kaiser was the second Ram to cross the finish line with a time of 24:04.0, a new personal best. Kaiser placed 13th overall and earned Atlantic 10 All-Conference honors along with Martin.
“He’s been focusing on this race now pretty much for 365 days,” head coach Trent Baltzell said. “He didn’t race for us during the indoor and outdoor seasons. He just kept training. I feel great for him because he’s another guy that works hard and is very good at cross country.”
Third-year Maddox Jordan followed up his Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team performance last season with a new personal best of 24:16.4. Jordan placed 18th, giving the Rams three top-20 finishers.
Fourth-year Garrett Hartline also set a new personal best of 24:24.0, good enough for 23rd place. Third-year Jeremy Roe was the fifth Ram to finish while also setting a new personal best with a time of 24:37.8 for a 31st-place finish.
While finishing in third for the second straight year, the Rams finished 30 points better this season and only trailed first-place Loyola Chicago by 48 points. Rhody’s top-five finishers had an average time of 24:11, a school record, according to the team’s Instagram.
“When I was a student-athlete 15 years ago, it was expected that URI would finish at the bottom of the pack on a year-to-year basis,” Baltzell said. “It took some time, but these last couple of years we’ve made some major progress. We’ve just had to be patient with it.”
The Rams will have two weeks before hitting the ground running once again for the NCAA Northeast Regionals on Nov. 13.
