WELLESLEY, Mass. – Senior Ashleigh Kelley (Stoneham, Mass.) stayed close to the lead pack and finished in the top 10, leading the Regis College cross country team at the season-opening Wellesley College Invitational Friday evening at the Nehoiden Golf Course.
In the women's five-kilometer race, Kelley finished in seventh place with a time of 19:17.5, over 30 seconds quicker than the previous best time by a Pride runner at the meet established by Molly Curtin four years ago. It is also close to 40 seconds faster than Kelley's previous best 5K collegiate time posted at the 2019 UMass Dartmouth Invitational.
Erin Kelley (Stoneham, Mass.) also significantly lowered her personal record for a collegiate 5K as she finished in 19th place in 20:07.5, over 50 seconds faster than her time at the 2019 Keene State Invitational. Lizzy Melvin (Southington, Conn.) and Libby Parker (Bow, N.H.) worked together throughout the race, with Melvin finishing in 23:38.2 and Parker in 23:44.8, and Lydia Miller (Bradford, Mass.) crossed the finish line in 26:37.5.
As a team, Regis finished in fifth place with 122 points. Brandeis won the team competition with 33 points, followed by WPI with 40 points, while Lauren Selkin of Mount Holyoke finished first individually with a winning time of 18:30.4.
The men ran the same five-kilometer course, with first-year student-athlete Benjamin Happenny (Woonsocket, R.I.) finishing first among the Pride in 18:04.7. Michael Carroll (Lynn, Mass.) cut over two-and-a-half minutes off his time from this event two years ago with a mark of 18:33.2, followed by Zach Sigman (Buffalo, N.Y.) in 18:44.7.
AJ Corso (Broad Brook, Conn.) completed the course in 20:00.3, just ahead of Gustavo Novelle-Ruddy (Boston, Mass.) in 20:07.8. Brett Kiesel (Rocky Hill, Conn.) finished his first collegiate cross country meet with a time of 20:39.6.
WPI placed eight runners in the top 10, led by medalist David Reynolds in 15:59.7, to win the team competition, followed by Brandeis and Regis.
Regis College is finalizing the next cross country meet to compete in as the Pride aim for the GNAC Championship, to be held Saturday afternoon, Oct. 30, at Franklin Park in Boston.