HOPKINTON, N.H. - The Regis College cross country team got its first look at the course that will host the NCAA Division III East Regional Meet next month as it participated in the 12th Annual Bruce Kirsh Cross Country Cup, hosted Friday by Franklin Pierce University at the Hopkinton Fairgrounds.
Riley Stogsdill (San Diego, Calif.) finished first among the Regis men for the second straight week, crossing the finish line in 67th place overall with an eight-kilometer time of 28:43.70, over a half-minute quicker than his time over the same distance at last week's Norwich Cadet Invitational. Benjamin Happenny (Woonsocket, R.I.) ended up in 86th place overall with a time of 29:58.14.
Brian LaPorte (Bridgewater, Mass.) improved upon his eight-kilometer time from last week by 25 seconds, posting a mark of 32:59.21, just ahead of Kederson Pierre (Everett, Mass.) with a time of 33:54.01. Ben Myette (Hanson, Mass.) completed the course in 36:05.22, followed by Chris Margiatto (Suffield, Conn.) with a time of 36:56.58.
For the women, Jonnie Charest (Methuen, Mass.) was the first Pride runner to cross the finish line, completing the six-kilometer course in 27:04.33, 39 seconds faster than her time over the same course at last year's NCAA East Regional. Olivia Mmamelu (Waltham, Mass.) cut 75 seconds off her time at last week's race over the same distance at Norwich, as she posted a mark of 29:21.33.
Abby Kilbride (Peabody, Mass.) also posted a personal-best time over six kilometers of 30:07.10, 15 seconds quicker than her mark earlier this season at the Pop Crowell Invitational. Annabelle Jean-Philippe (Randolph, Mass.) finished with a season-best six-kilometer time of 30:39.58, and Kim Avalo (North Attleboro, Mass.) posted an improvement of over four minutes from last week as she completed the course in 36:10.93.
Both the men and the women ended up in 13th place in their respective team standings. Three Division I teams topped the women's standings as Connecticut finished first, followed by Maine and UMass Amherst. On the men's side, Maine emerged victorious, with UMass Lowell finishing just ahead of UMass Amherst for second place.
The Regis College cross country team will begin preparations for championship season, starting in two weeks with the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Championships hosted by Norwich University Saturday, Nov. 2, starting with the women's race at 11 a.m. and followed by the men's race at 12:15 p.m.