Against a loaded field, former La Salle Academy standout and UMass-Lowell senior breaks her own school record at Saturday night’s BU Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener.
BOSTON – In a conversation with Kenzie Doyle about a year and a half ago at a fundraising event for the Bobby Doyle Summer Classic, a race that honors the legacy of her late father, the former La Salle Academy standout talked about her recent resurgence as a collegiate runner at UMass-Lowell. She told us how she was focused on continuing to excel for the RiverHawks in her remaining track and cross-country seasons. She also was looking further. She also mentioned a goal of one day competing at the professional level.
As she finishes up her eligibility at UMass-Lowell this year, that goal is beginning to become more of a reality.
After red-shirting the cross-country season this fall, Doyle was at Boston University on Saturday night for the BU Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener. In a loaded field, she finished tenth overall in the 5,000-meter run where she averaged sub five-minute pace with a time of 15 minutes, 27 seconds. That effort broke her own school record and ranks her No. 4 in the country right now.
Her uncle and longtime Bishop Hendricken coach Jim Doyle was one of several people that posted about her performance on Facebook. He compared the fierce tenacity of his niece – a trait that has earned her appearances in the NCAA Division 1 Championships for cross country and track as well as two straight titles at the Blessing of the Fleet 10-miler – to that have his late brother, and legendary RI marathoner.
“She has trained hard to make this level. She trained like her Dad, putting in the miles, and now is racing like her Dad. You Can’t Teach Guts. Mackenzie, you have those guts,” he said.
Can’t argue there.
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The BU meet also featured a few other notable performances by our former high school stars.
Celebrated middle-distance specialist Sophia Gorriaran, a freshman at Harvard, clocked her all-time best for the mile. Gorriaran finished second overall with a time of 4:36.66.
Classical alum Conor Murphy, a junior at Virginia, clocked a PR of 7:53.17 in the 3,000m. Murphy was 11th overall in a race where the top 22 finishers were under eight minutes.
In the women’s 3K, fellow teammate and Portsmouth Abbey alum Margot Appleton was 19th among 132 finishers with a time of 9:08.68. Former North Kingstown all-stater Molly Sullivan, a junior at Davidson College, was 105th with a best of 10:10.51.
In the 800m, Colby freshman and Moses Brown grad Thomas Speltz was 22nd overall in 1:59.88.
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Kudos to Saint Raphael’s Rory Sullivan. The Saints’ senior concluded her outstanding cross-country season this fall at the Nike Cross Nationals on Saturday. Sullivan beat nearly half the field in Portland, Oregon, by placing 109th in 19:17.2.
