WESTON, Mass. – After finishing fourth at the GNAC Cross Country Championships in 2017, the Regis women's cross country team looks to improve on that result in 2018 with a mixture of experienced veterans and talented newcomers.
The Pride's top runner in 2017, Molly Curtin, graduated, but fellow First Team All-GNAC honoree Maggie Mann returns after finishing fourth at the GNAC Championships last season and then posting her best six-kilometer time at the NCAA Regional in Portland, Maine.
Maddie Boucias earned Second Team All-GNAC recognition last year after finishing 12th at the conference championships. Megan Bubello competed in every race for the Pride in 2017, posting her best six-kilometer time at the NCAA Regional, while fellow junior Joelle Bockus also performed well at the regional meet to cap off her season.
Four newcomers are set to join the Pride starting this year, including twin sisters Ashleigh Kelley and Erin Kelley. Desiree Jones and Lizzy Melvin are the other first-year competitors looking to make an immediate impact this season.
In the GNAC preseason coaches' poll, Regis was picked to finish in third place with 105 points, just ahead of fourth place Emmanuel with 102 points. Defending GNAC champion Norwich collected seven first-place votes to finish atop the poll with 135 points, with Simmons right behind in second place with five first-place votes and 133 points.
Colby-Sawyer ended up in fifth place with 94 points, followed by Suffolk in sixth place with 78 points, Saint Joseph's (Maine) in seventh place with 76 points, and Johnson & Wales in eighth place with 75 points. Saint Joseph (Conn.) placed ninth with 55 points, ahead of Lasell (36 points), Rivier (33 points), and Anna Maria (13 points).
The Pride's schedule features trips to UMass Dartmouth and Gordon College in September, and then Regis will compete in the Runnin' Monks Invitational on Oct. 6, hosted by Saint Joseph's College over the same course that will host this year's GNAC Championships three weeks later.
Regis opens the 2018 season with the Wellesley Invitational, taking place at the Nehoiden Golf Club in Wellesley, Mass., this Friday, Aug. 31, starting at 6 p.m.