NCAA DIII NEW ENGLAND REGIONAL WOMEN'S RESULTS
WATERFORD, Conn.- Competing in what would be the final race of the season, the Endicott women's cross country team finished 31st out of 56 squads at the Harkness Memorial Park in Waterford, Conn. The 31st place finish ties the best finish in program history, produced by last year's team.
The women were led by Samantha Pearl's (Concord, N.H.) 132nd place finish as she traversed the 6k course in a time of 24.09.6. The New Hampshire native capped her stellar freshman campaign with her best performance of the season, besting her 24:22.18 performance at the CCC Championships two weeks ago.
Led by Pearl, the four top finishers for the Gulls were all first year members. Finishing second for the Gulls and 169th overall in the 390 runner field was Kelly O'Neill (Cumberland, R.I.) in a time of 24:43.6. Fellow first year runners Lauren Tocci (Shamong, N.J.) and Abigail Keim (Williston, Vt.) finished third and fourth for the Gulls in times of 25:14.1 and 25:32.4, respectively. Tocci's time earned her 200th overall while Keim closed in 222nd.
Right behind Keim was sophomore Kiera Malone (Woburn, Mass.) who finished 229th with a time of 25:36.7. She was followed by senior Holly Rigoli (Waltham, Mass.) who finished 234th overall. The CCC Senior Scholar Athlete crossed in a time of 25:42.1 to end her Endicott career. Rounding out the Gulls' roster was freshman Maeve Kelly (Washingtonville, N.Y.) who finished 272nd in a time of 26:18.1.
BEYOND THE TIMES
- Pearl finished as Endicott's top runner for the first time all season, as she becomes the first Gull other than Abigail Keim to lead the team in 2015.
- Senior Holly Rigoli's time of 25:42.1 beat her performance in the 2014 NCAA DIII Regionals by 37 seconds as she produced her best career performance in her final race.
- The Gulls return six of their seven runners from this year's NCAA DIII Regional roster as Rigoli represents the lone senior on this year's squd.
TOP QUOTE
"The women have been battling some sickness and injuries over the past week, so today was most important to get them experience at this championship race," stated head coach Spencer Lange. "Sam (Pearl) stepped up and had her best race of the season. I was very happy for her and how she took control. It was great to see them all fight through it in a strong field of competition. They accomplished so much this year and have such a bright future. The goal all season has been to run close together and they managed to continue that effort in a race with around 400 runners. I am very proud of how the women fought through the adversity today."
THAT'S A WRAP
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