Women's Cross Country

Haynes Paces Gulls to 4th Place Finish at Pop Crowell Invitational

Posted: Sep 21, 2013

WENHAM, Mass.- The Endicott men's and women's cross country teams both had impressive showings at the Pop Crowell Invitational on Saturday as the women's team came in 4th out of 18 teams and the men finished 10th out of 14 squads. The 2013 season continues to be one of the most successful in recent years for the Blue and Green under new head coach Nick Radkewich.

Junior Erin Haynes (Oakham, Mass.) highlighted another solid team effort for the women's team as the Gulls finished 4th overall out of 18 teams and 2nd out of all Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) competition. Haynes finished 4th for the second straight race with a time of 20:22 and has now finished in the top 10 in all three races in the 2013 season. Sophomore Lauren Boyle had her best finish of the young campaign as she crossed the line in 22:01, good enough for 28th place. Right on her heels was senior Jillian Mendes (Waterbury Center, Vt.) who finished 30th with a time of 22:10. Junior Jocelyn Kane (East Longmeadow, Mass.) finished 39th with a time of 22:33 and sophomore Holly Rigoli (Waltham, Mass.) finished 46th at 22:59 to round out the top five for Endicott.

Finishing first overall was CCC foe UNE, followed by Georgia College, Emmanuel and Endicott. Endicott's top five times average of 22:01 was just 1:18 behind the winning time of 20:43.8.

For the men, freshman Noah Mondello (Gloucester, Mass.) continued to shine in his first collegiate season as he finished 10th overall with a time of 29:15, just over a minute off the winning time. Junior Alex Walecka (North Dartmouth, Mass.) continued his strong season as he finished 51st overall with a time of 31:15. Mitchell Renfrew (Barkhamsted, Conn.) crossed the line in 32:36 to close in 75th, his third straight race finishing third for the Gulls. James Dooley finished in 36:22 as Ian Kaeding finished in 40:09.

Endicott finished ahead of Rivier, Emerson, Nichols and Nashua CC.

Within the Pop Crowell meet, Endicott and Rivier faced off in a non-conference dual meet against each other. For the women, Haynes, Boyle, Mendes Kane and Rigoli swept spots 1-5 to earn a perfect 15 score. The win, complemented by a great team effort all-around, bodes well for the rest of the 2013 season. For the men, Mondello came in first to lead the Gulls to a narrow 27-28 victory for the team's first win in over 10 years. The race was ultimately decided when Renfrew, who had been running neck and neck with Rivier's #2 runner, pulled ahead to clinch third to give the Gulls the one point advantage.

Both teams are off until October 12 when they travel to Westfield State to compete in the James Early Invitational.