WELLESLEY, Mass. – Led by three top-10 performances, the Regis College men's cross country team finished third at the season-opening Wellesley Invitational Friday evening at the Nehoiden Golf Course.
Jovan Sematimba (Burlington, Mass.) cut 16 seconds off his time in last year's event, leading the Pride with a sixth place finish in 17:49.4. Nicholas Sahagian (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) showed significant improvement, cutting over a minute-and-a-half off his time from this race last season, crossing the finish line in seventh place in 17:56.3.
Sean Toomey (Salem, N.H.) finished in ninth place with a time of 18:11.1, while Shane Romanchick (Trumbull, Conn.) was close behind him, posting a mark of 18:20.4 to finish in 11th place.
Henry Walker (Brookline, Mass.) scored for the Pride in his first career collegiate race, finishing in 14th place in 18:59.4, just ahead of JJ Pedersen (Milford, Conn.) in 15th place in 19:01.2. Gustavo Novelle-Ruddy (Boston, Mass.) completed his initial collegiate event in 18th place in 20:09.5.
Thanks to its five runners finishing in the top 12, Wentworth narrowly won the team title with 37 points, just ahead of Brandeis's 38 points. Brandeis boasted the top two runners, with Matthew Driben winning in 16:35.0 followed by teammate Josh Lombardo in 16:36.6.
Regis next competes at the UMass Dartmouth Invitational Saturday, Sept. 15, starting at 11 a.m.