Van Cortlandt Park in New York City, the site of an insurmountable number of legendary races on its hallowed grounds, provided the setting this past Friday for several outstanding efforts turned in by former local high school stars at the NCAA Division I Northeast Regionals.
Columbia University senior Jacob Sienko, a onetime standout from Bishop Hendricken, finished sixth overall in the 10-kilometer race with a time of 30 minutes, 24.30 seconds. Less than five-seconds behind Sienko was his former teammate at Hendricken, Providence College junior Brian Doyle, who was timed in 30:29 for 12th overall.
The Friars, who were fourth as a team, had two other ex-high school all-staters finish strong. Recent Cumberland High grad Trevor Crawley, a freshman, was 70th overall with a 31:49.8 clocking. Smithfield’s Liam Hillary was 87th at 32:07.20.
In the women’s race, the Lady Friars easily copped the team title, defeating second-place Dartmouth, 44-84. Junior Molly Keating, who won multiple track and cross-country titles for La Salle Academy, was the sixth PC runner to cross the line. She posted a time of 21:50.8 for the 6K race, good for 71st overall.
On Saturday, former Westerly great Andrew Springer, a senior at Georgetown University, blazed to a 10K season best of 29:44 to place third in the NCAA Div. 1 Mid Atlantic Regionals at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. Springer was just seven seconds behind winner Patrick Tiernan of Villanova.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) freshman Ben Fazio, of East Greenwich, was 28th overall in the NCAA Div. III Atlantic Regionals Saturday at Letchworth State Park in Castile, N.Y. He was timed in 25:47.30 for the 8K course.