Ryan Slaney didn’t know what to expect at Saturday’s Arnold Mills Road Race after deciding just a few days earlier to compete in the popular four-mile event.
The former Mount St. Charles standout, now a graduate student at Northeastern University, was coming off a successful outdoor season that included a Coastal Athletic Association 10,000-meter title.
“I haven’t had much time to train,” Slaney admitted. “I just took my college break and was just coming back to training. I was pretty hesitant about whether I was going to race or not. I just wanted to stick in there and make sure I was in that front pack. That’s what I always do — hold on for dear life and hope I’m there at the end and have a chance in the close.”
The Cumberland native was exactly where he wanted to be when the race reached its final stretch.
And while he wasn’t able to snare a victory in the 58th annual race, held under scorching conditions, he certainly wasn’t complaining about his runner-up finish behind champion Chris Collet. In a race that came down to the final stretch on Nate Whipple Highway, Slaney walked away satisfied with his performance and time of 19 minutes, 41.8 seconds, finishing a mere 20 meters behind Collet’s winning effort of 19:38.8.
“I took a 14-day break (after the outdoor season) and I have been building up for maybe like four weeks now,” he said. “I’ve only done three weeks of workouts. I am just a super competitive person. I don’t like racing unless I am in incredible shape. That’s why I was hesitant. I am glad I ended up doing it, and it paid off.”
Saturday’s race didn’t begin to separate until runners reached Sun Valley Drive, roughly 2.5 miles into the race. For the first half of the race, a sizable pack that included last year’s winner Colin Bennie, former La Salle standout Joseph dosReis, 2021 victor and Hendricken alum Nick Celico, Collet and Slaney stuck together and covered the first two miles at just over five-minute per-mile pace.
“It was sort of a tactical race,” Slaney said. “It kind of played to my strengths.”
Slaney, who completed his undergraduate degree at Bryant University while starring in track and cross country, traded brief leads with Collet before the pair climbed the challenging hill leaving Sun Valley Drive.
With a gap on the remainder of the pack that was increasing significantly at that point, it was clear it would be a two-person race to the finish line near the North Cumberland Fire Station.
“I honestly felt really good. I didn’t feel much of a pace change. It felt sort of like natural, picking up the pace,” Slaney said. “I didn’t realize I was sliding up to the front. I also didn’t realize we were dropping people from behind. We slowly picked it up and then it started picking up heavier the last quarter to a half mile.”
With a strong finishing kick, dosReis separated himself from the chase pack over the final quarter mile to finish third in 19:55.2. Rounding out the top 10 finishers were Bennie (fourth, 20:00.5), Celico (fifth, 20:06.0), Cooper Michaud (sixth, 20:19.7), three-time winner Brian Doyle (seventh, 20:51.4), Andrew Frezza (eighth, 20:57), Nicholas Green (ninth, 21:22.2) and Kenneth Vinacco (tenth, 21:27.6).
While the men’s race came down to the closing stretch, the women’s race unfolded much differently. Recent Bryant University graduate Jasmine Trott led from the outset and was never seriously challenged the remainder of the way, crossing the line in 22:38.6. She was 20th overall among the 828 finishers.
“It was fun,” Trott said. “I didn’t know what to expect after coming off a very long NCAA season. “I just wanted to go out and see what I could run. I knew it was going to be very hot. I knew it wasn’t going to be a crazy time. I am so happy to come away with the win.”
The 22-year-old England native, who won the America East 10K title this past spring and owns a personal best of 33:35.7 for the 6.2-mile distance, clicked off mile splits between 5:30 and 5:40
It was her first race since competing at the NCAA Division I East Championships in late May.
“I felt better than I thought, honestly,” Trott said. “I took a short break, about five days off after my last race at regionals in Kentucky. My workouts since then haven’t been promising. I have been feeling pretty tired. Luckily today my legs felt better. Even considering the heat, I still felt pretty strong. I felt like I could hold the pace.”
Finishing second in the race and 36th overall was former Saint Raphael star and Furman University junior Rory Sullivan in 24:28.2. South Kingstown’s Erin Hurley, a University of Rhode Island grad, was third (39th overall) at 24:38.7.
Rounding out the top finishers were Boston’s Nora Blodgett (41st, 24:46.5), Barrington’s Corinne Periera (47th, 25:03.7) Cumberland’s Cameron Kurbec (50th, 25:13.3), and St. Ray’s senior-to-be MacKenzie LIckert (54th, 25:17.8).
