[Pcalumnixctrack] Providence Cross Country Teams Sweep Nassaney Invitational

[Laura A Nagel]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Sept. 12, 2015
Contact: Laura Nagel, 401-527-2661


Providence Cross Country Teams Sweep Nassaney Invitational
The women captured the top-5 spots, while the men finished with five runners in the top-13.


Providence, R.I. - The Providence College men's and women's cross country teams both claimed victories today (Sept. 12) at the Nassaney Invitational in Smithfield, R.I. The women swept the top-5 spots to win with just 15 points, while the men, missing their top-2 runners from last week's race, finished with five runners in the top-13.

The women's race got out to a fast start with Bryant's AnnMarie Tuxbury pushing the pace for the first mile. Senior Sarah Collins (Basil, Switzerland) kept the Bulldog honest, sitting right behind her. The pace was a little too quick for Tuxbury who eventually dropped back into sixth-place. Heading into the last of the three loops, junior Catarina Rocha (Peabody, Mass.) caught Collins, leaving the two Friars to run side-by-side until the finish. Rocha was credited with the win, while Collins grabbed second-place, both recording a time of 16:48.0 over the 5km course.

Senior Lauren Mullins (Binghamton, N.Y.) remained with Rocha for the first lap of the race. Sophomores Brianna Ilarda (Perth, Australia) and Katie Lembo (Penfield, N.Y.) eventually caught Mullins on the second lap. The trio worked together for the remainder of the race, with Ilarda and Mullins pulled away from Lembo with 1km to go.

Like Rocha and Collins, Ilarda and Mullins finished side-by-side. Ilarda was credited with a third-place finish (16:56.0), while Mullins collected fourth (16:57.0).

Lembo wasn't too far behind third and fourth, coming in at 17:03.0 for fifth-place to give the Friars a 15-point win.

Rounding out the top-7 for Providence, junior Emily Bushey (Vernon, N.J.) looked strong throughout the race, finishing seventh (17:46.0) as the Friars' No. 6 runner. Senior Molly Keating (Rehoboth, Mass.) placed ninth overall (18:01.0) and seventh on the team in her season debut for the Friars.

On the men's side, Hugh Armstrong (Ballina, County Mayo, Ireland) looked like a strong contender throughout the race. Through the first lap of the 5km course, Armstrong, junior Trevor Crawley (Cumberland, R.I.), and seniors Julian Oakley (Tauranga, New Zealand) and Stephen Robertson (Wakefield, Mass.) held their place in the lead pack.

Midway through the second lap, Armstrong pushed the pace to make his way to the front. Oakley was hot on his heels with Crawley and Robertson in the chase pack. The race came down to the last 600-meters with Armstrong holding onto Sacred Heart's Sean Fergusson. Shortly before the last corner, Oakley passed Armstrong and tried to catch Fergusson, just running out of room at the finish. Oakley finished second overall (14:51.0), just one second behind the winner.

Armstrong collected fourth-place (14:54.0), Robertson grabbed seventh-place overall (15:04.0) and Crawley finished 10th (15:11.0).

Rounding out the top-7 for the men, senior Christian Costello (Ridgewood, N.J.) collected a 13th-place finish (15:21.0), while freshman Michael O'Leary (Melville, N.Y.) and sophomore Brendan Ungemach (Wayne, N.J.) finished 16th (15:24.0) and 25th (15:39.0), respectively.

Next up, the women will race on Friday, September 25 at Franklin Park for the Coast-to-Coast Battle in Beantown, while the men will race at the Princeton Invitational on Saturday, October 3.

- GO FRIARS -


Laura Nagel
Sports Information Graduate Assistant
Providence College
1 Cunningham Square
Providence, R.I. 02918
(o) 401-865-1245
Online Portfolio<http://cargocollective.com/lauranagel>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.providence.edu/pipermail/pcalumnixctrack/attachments/20150912/0eaa925d/attachment.html