WESTFIELD, Mass. - The Regis (Mass.) men's and women's cross country teams closed out their 2016 season on Saturday afternoon in record fashion, competing in the NCAA New England Regional at Stanley Park.
The Pride, led by Molly Curtin (Brockton, Mass.), placed 33rd out of 60 teams in what proved to be a historic performance. Curtin broke the top 100, placing 76th out of a field of 406 runners with a school record time of 23:03 for the 6,000m course. Curtin's performance is the highest finish at this meet in school history.
"I'm really proud of the way our women competed today," said Regis coach Kourtney Bonsey. "It was a great end to such a successful season. These women worked incredibly hard all year and Coach (Kevin) Greene and I are thrilled to see such positive results. The NECC meet last weekend was both physically and emotionally draining for this group, but they came here today and put forth a strong effort and were able to make a huge jump from last year's results."
Curtin once again was the top New England Collegiate Conference finisher, also besting times from Great Northeast Athletic Conference runners who the Pride will compete against next season as new members to the conference. Following Curtin was senior Siobhan McLaughlin (Derry, N.H.) who finished her career with a personal best time of 23:38, shaving nearly a minute off her previous best. NECC rookie of the year, Maddie Boucias (Buckland, Mass.), was the third finisher for the Pride coming in at a time of 24:18. Rounding out the scoring five for Regis were junior Sarah Backholm (25:57) and freshman Jill Mosko (26:41), both crossing the tape with personal best times.
Sophomore Kyle Gillen-Hughes (Reading, Mass.) continued his successful rookie campaign for the Pride and was the team's top finisher coming in at a personal best time of 28:08. Shane Romanchick (Trumbull, Conn.) and Jovan Sematimba (Burlington, Mass.) finished second and third for the Pride, with Romanchick finishing 241st with a time of 28:46 and Sematimba in 243rd at 28:48. The Pride finished 45th out of 56 teams.
"The men's race went out at an usually fast pace and took our team by surprise," said Bonsey. "I was happy with the way they were able to stay composed in the race and continue to work together as a pack. They are a young group that have learned a lot this season. I am already looking forward to next fall with this team."
MIT swept the team competitions. The top individual finishers belonged to Tufts, however, as Tim Nichols (23:54.58) and Brittany Bowman (21:14.29) won their respective men's and women's races.
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