Black second at New Englands
SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Senior Eimear Black (Glengormley, Ireland) ran to a second-place finish with a personal-record time of 17:27 as the Bryant University cross country teams competed at the New England Championships on Saturday at Franklin Park in Boston, Mass.
Led by Black's second-place finish, the Bulldog women finished 17th. The men finished 36th. Central Connecticut claimed the men's team title, while New Hampshire ran to a first-place finish on the women's side.
Two weeks after winning the Father Bede Invitational in her first race of the season, Black put together arguably the greatest race of her storied career on Saturday. She ran a 5:37 mile, finishing second behind Boston University's Rosa Moriello. The finish was the highest ever for a Bulldog harrier at the New England Championships. Black was followed across the line by classmate Martha Reynolds (London, England) who finished 75th (18:53). Annmarie Tuxbury (New Hartford, Conn.) finished 83rd (18:56) and Staci Rezendes (Ludlow, Mass.) finished 147th (19:32) to round out Bryant's top four.
On the men's side, Christopher Chapruet (Danvers, Mass.) paced the Black and Gold, finishing 179th with a time of 26:53. Thomas Mullally (Mastic Beach, N.Y.) followed in 191st (26:59), Blake Fenwick (Thomaston, Conn.) finished 203rd (27:10) and Arturo Cruz (Westfield, Mass.) finished 219th (27:18) to round out Bryant's top four runners.
The Bulldogs will have a week off before preparing for the NEC championships with the CCSU Mini-Meet on October 25 in New Britain, Conn.