No matter how well you’ve competed as a high school athlete, it’s never easy making that transition as a prep star to a collegian, especially at the Division 1 level.
That’s what makes it even more impressive what our Rhode Island alums have been doing lately at their respective colleges and a testament of the outstanding coaching they received while in high school.
Here’s the latest…
At the upcoming NCAA Division 1 Cross-Country Championships, set for Saturday at the University of Virginia, our local contingent will have seven athletes making the trip. In the Div. III meet, which will be held at the Tom Rutledge X-C Course in Missouri on Dec. 2, we have at least two.
For Div. 1, the list includes Kaylie Armitage (La Salle Academy) of Furman University, Margot Appleton (Portsmouth Abbey) of Virginia, Olivia Joly (North Kingstown) of Syracuse, Sophia Gorriaran (Moses Brown) of Harvard, Luke Henseler (Bishop Hendricken) of Pittsburgh, Jack McMahon (Bishop Hendricken) of Butler, Caroline Cummings (La Salle Academy) of Georgetown and Reese Fahys (East Greenwich) of Providence College. Henseler earned an individual spot to the this weekend’s meet, while the remaining runners have qualified as varsity members of their respective schools.
For Div. III, Ian Hopkins (Bishop Hendricken) of Catholic University and Mitchell Daly (Burrillville) of RPI are among the qualifiers.
***
Here’s some more great news about one our former HS standouts. Just a few weeks ago, Rhode Island College’s Haley Oliver, who was an all-stater while running for Coventry, captured the Little East Conference title. Oliver covered the five-kilometer course at Keene State in 18:32, more than 30 seconds faster than her closest pursuer.
