A-10 Rookie of the Week helps Rams to score in cross country invitational
Kyle Towne
Issue date: 10/1/09 Section: Sports
10/1/09 - The University of Rhode Island women's cross country team finished in four of the top six spots to win the Central Connecticut State University/Ted Owen Invitational this past Saturday at Stanley Quarter Park.
"The meet went very well," Head Coach Laurie Feit-Melnick said. "We had some great pack-running going on."
The race featured URI as well as four other schools: Central Connecticut State University, Bryant University, American International College and Providence College.
Throughout the season Feit-Melnick has stressed the importance of the team running as a pack and sticking together. URI's runners answered the call of their coach, finishing four runners in the top six places all within nine seconds of each other.
"It was awesome to see how tight and fast they ran," Feit-Melnick said. "Everyone from top to bottom improved their times."
Rhody freshman Niamh Ryan was the first of the Rams to finish, coming through in second place at 18:25, the fastest time among all freshmen in the race.
Following a third place runner from AIC was a pack of three URI runners who all finished within five seconds of one another.
Junior Brittany Pelsue was the leader of the pack, finishing at 18:30. Immediately after her were sophomore Haley Mathewson (18:31) and junior Mary Najarian (18:34).
Junior Caitrin Demchko closed out the scoring for Rhode Island, finishing in 16th at a time of 19:51.
Bryant's Deirdre Doyle won the race in impressive fashion, finishing at 18:11.
The Rams' final score for the meet was 32, leaps and bounds ahead of the rest of the competition. CCSU finished second with a score of 69, followed by Bryant and Providence, which each finished with 78.
On Monday, it was announced that Ireland native Niamh Ryan had won Atlantic 10 women's cross country Rookie of the Week for her performance in the race.
"It's very exciting to see her win that award," Feit-Melnick said. "They are all out there trying to work hard and improve."
The Rams have now finished in first place in consecutive meets. Last week the team won the Hartford Invitational.
Feit-Melnick continued to stress the importance of the team training hard for the upcoming meets.
The Rams hope to continue this success in one of their biggest races of the season, the New England Championships.
"I have confidence that they will run well," Feit-Melnick said. "It is good experience in a bigger field of teams."
The New England Championships will be held on Oct. 10 at Franklin Park in Boston, Mass.
"If we run tight as a team," Feit -Melnick said, "things will fall into place."
"The meet went very well," Head Coach Laurie Feit-Melnick said. "We had some great pack-running going on."
The race featured URI as well as four other schools: Central Connecticut State University, Bryant University, American International College and Providence College.
Throughout the season Feit-Melnick has stressed the importance of the team running as a pack and sticking together. URI's runners answered the call of their coach, finishing four runners in the top six places all within nine seconds of each other.
"It was awesome to see how tight and fast they ran," Feit-Melnick said. "Everyone from top to bottom improved their times."
Rhody freshman Niamh Ryan was the first of the Rams to finish, coming through in second place at 18:25, the fastest time among all freshmen in the race.
Following a third place runner from AIC was a pack of three URI runners who all finished within five seconds of one another.
Junior Brittany Pelsue was the leader of the pack, finishing at 18:30. Immediately after her were sophomore Haley Mathewson (18:31) and junior Mary Najarian (18:34).
Junior Caitrin Demchko closed out the scoring for Rhode Island, finishing in 16th at a time of 19:51.
Bryant's Deirdre Doyle won the race in impressive fashion, finishing at 18:11.
The Rams' final score for the meet was 32, leaps and bounds ahead of the rest of the competition. CCSU finished second with a score of 69, followed by Bryant and Providence, which each finished with 78.
On Monday, it was announced that Ireland native Niamh Ryan had won Atlantic 10 women's cross country Rookie of the Week for her performance in the race.
"It's very exciting to see her win that award," Feit-Melnick said. "They are all out there trying to work hard and improve."
The Rams have now finished in first place in consecutive meets. Last week the team won the Hartford Invitational.
Feit-Melnick continued to stress the importance of the team training hard for the upcoming meets.
The Rams hope to continue this success in one of their biggest races of the season, the New England Championships.
"I have confidence that they will run well," Feit-Melnick said. "It is good experience in a bigger field of teams."
The New England Championships will be held on Oct. 10 at Franklin Park in Boston, Mass.
"If we run tight as a team," Feit -Melnick said, "things will fall into place."
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