The University of Rhode Island women’s cross country team continued to search for success at the Atlantic 10 Conference Championship this weekend, placing in 10th to mark its 14th straight finish outside of the top seven teams.
On Nov. 1, the Rams traveled to Cedarville, Ohio, to compete in the annual A-10 Championship at Cedarville University. They faced multiple setbacks leading up to the race, according to URI Head Coach Laurie Feit-Melnick. Not only did they lose their No. 1 runner from last year, fifth-year Sofia Piccone, to injury, but they also endured severe flight delays on their way to Ohio.
“On Thursday, we were supposed to arrive at the hotel by 8 p.m.; we arrived at the hotel on Friday at 3 a.m.,” Feit-Melnick said.
Nonetheless, the Rams persisted, with fourth-year standout Lily Saul leading the team with a 13th-place finish out of 126 runners, clocking a time of 21:31.05, the fastest in program history on the Cedarville course. Rhode Island placed 10th out of 14 schools, scoring 238 points overall.
“We have a wonderful group of women working hard, and we have some young talent,” Feit-Melnick said. “We hope to improve our performance at the A-10 Championship for sure. It’s not always about how high you place; we have an amazing group of women who are amazing student-athletes.”
Even with the team’s overall placement, the A-10 Championship featured several small victories. With her 13th-place finish, Saul earned All-Atlantic 10 honors, becoming the 30th runner in program history to do so.
“The fact that I got to the all-conference was pretty cool for me because I worked really hard this summer; that was my goal,” Saul said.
First-years Keaney Bayha and Jordan Hadfield finished 45th and 47th, respectively, both setting personal records and ranking as the fifth and sixth-fastest first-year runners in the race. Second-year Alison Pankowicz placed 65th with a time of 22:48.6, marking her best A-10 finish. Second-year Hailey LaRosa followed in 70th with a time of 22:56.1, which was her best showing at the championship as well.
While the day was full of individual achievements, Feit-Melnick said that the team was hoping for more.
“We’re pretty young,” Feit-Melnick said. “We don’t have a huge amount of depth. We were definitely hoping to place higher than we did as a team; we are looking forward to continuing to improve our performance at the championship.”
The A-10 Championship marked the second-to-last race of the season for the Rams, who now turn their attention to the NCAA Regional Championship on Nov. 14.
“I feel like with two weeks left until regionals, we have to work together and stay with our packs, do the best we can with our team workouts and team runs and just build together and try to hit a personal best at regionals,” Hadfield said.
After the weekend off, the Rams will look to carry this positive mindset to Hopkinton, New Hampshire, for the NCAA Regionals.
