WINTHROP, Mass. - Three Regis College student-athletes who have compiled exemplary seasons and are now preparing for championship competitions have been recognized once again by the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) with weekly awards, announced Monday afternoon, Oct. 17, by the league office.
Kiana Thompson (Boynton Beach, Fla.) has been named GNAC Women's Tennis Player of the Week for the first time as well as GNAC Rookie of the Week for the fifth time after leading the Pride to a 5-0 victory over Simmons University Saturday in the semifinals of the GNAC Tournament. Thompson teamed with Samantha Gevry (Dudley, Mass.) for an 8-1 victory at number one doubles, and then she clinched the overall win for Regis with a straight-set victory (6-2, 6-0) at number one singles.
With the victories, Thompson improved to 8-0 in singles and 8-0 in doubles for the 2022 fall season. She has yet to lose a set in singles, including seven 6-0 sets, plus she and Gevry have claimed victory in doubles with 8-0 or 8-1 decisions four times.
Ashleigh Kelley (Stoneham, Mass.) collects her fifth GNAC Women's Cross Country Runner of the Week award, the second consecutive year she has earned the honor five times. Kelley finished 12th overall, fourth among competitors from Division III programs, at Saturday's Suffolk Invitational with a six-kilometer time of 24:04.7, helping the Pride to an eighth place finish as a team out of 22 programs.
For the fourth time this season, Kelley established a program-best time on a specific course, as Saturday's time at Franklin Park was over 14 seconds quicker than the mark of 24:19 she set at last year's NCAA East Regional. She has also posted program-best times at Smith College, UMass Dartmouth, and Keene State College this year.
Madelyn Klein (Framingham, Mass.) receives her third GNAC Women's Cross Country Rookie of the Week award after completing her first career collegiate six-kilometer race at the Suffolk Invitational Saturday. She posted a time of 26:20.5 to end up in 47th place among the 182 competitors who crossed the finish line at Franklin Park.
Kelley and Klein share their honors this week with runners from Colby-Sawyer College who competed at the Connecticut College Invitational Saturday. Shannon O'Connell also received GNAC Runner of the Week recognition, and Adriana Nadeau was also named GNAC Rookie of the Week.
All three Pride student-athletes and their squads are now preparing for their respective GNAC Championships. Thompson and the Regis women's tennis team will travel to New London, N.H., to face Colby-Sawyer in the title match of the 2022 GNAC Women's Tennis Tournament Saturday, Oct. 22, beginning at 1 p.m. It is a rematch of the 2021 GNAC Tournament championship match won by the Chargers, 5-0.
In less than two weeks, Kelley, Klein, and the Regis cross country teams will head to Standish, Maine, for the 2022 GNAC Cross Country Championships, hosted by Saint Joseph's College Saturday, Oct. 29. The women's six-kilometer race is scheduled to start at 1 p.m., followed by the men's eight-kilometer event at 2 p.m.