February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By John Kelly
Keith Kelly led Providence to victory in the New England Cross Country Championship at Franklin Park in Boston. The senior from Drogheda won the event for the second year in a row, breaking the tape with a time of 23 minutes, 39 seconds.
Paul Reilly, a junior from Loughrea, Co. Galway, was third in 24:09. Following him were Dermot Galvin, a junior from Kilrush, Co. Clare, who placed sixth in 24:16, and Ciaran Lynch, a Limerick senior, who was 29th in 25:26. The Friars, coached by Ray Treacy, easily won the team trophy, defeating runner-up Keene State, 17-119.
The Providence women were less fortunate, ceding first place to Yale by a 20-57 score. Roisin McGettigan, a sophomore from County Wicklow, took sixth place in 17:50. Reporting home behind her were Galway junior Kathryn Casserly in 16th place with an 18:14 clocking and Limerick sophomore Emer O’Shea, who was 29th in 18:40.
Western Kentucky ventured to Ames, Iowa for Iowa State’s Memorial Classic. Sophomore Olga Cronin was first in for the Hilltoppers, finishing 40th overall in 22:01.0. Valerie Lynch, a senior, was 82nd in 22:25.2, junior Terri Hennessy was 341st in 25:12.9, and senior Lisa Cronin was 360th in 25:46.8. All of the aforementioned are from Cork. Villanova’s Geraldine McCarthy, a senior from Listowel, Co. Kerry, ran 69th in the 371-woman field in 22:21.0. Colorado’s Kara Wheeler won the 6,000-meter race in 20:27.3.
Villanova placed 13th in the 56-team standings, while Western Kentucky settled for 41st. Brigham Young had the fewest points and took home the winning hardware.
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A pair of Endas contested the men’s heat. Western Kentucky’s Enda Grandfield, a freshman from Kerry, took 88th place in 32:17.8 for 10,000 meters. Brown’s Enda Johnson, a Monaghan junior, placed 166th in 32:51.6. Colorado’s Jorge Torres paced the 360-man field with his time of 30:31.1. BYU’s men won this race, with Brown placing 15th and Western Kentucky 41st.
Tulsa’s Margaret Danagher ran a career best 23:26 to finish in 50th place at the Chile Pepper Festival in Fayetteville, Ark. She is a senior from Templemore, Co. Tipperary. Tulsa placed 15th among teams.
Men’s soccer
The ball left Mark McManus’s foot and dribbled across the goal line just in time to beat the clock and help Rio Grande to a 2-1 win over Houghton. Rio, situated in Ohio, improved to 11-2-2 with the victory. Belfast is the hometown of McManus, a midfielder.
Roy Patton’s Vermont Catamounts have hit their stride with consecutive shutouts of Hofstra, 3-0, New Hampshire, 2-0, and Maine, 2-0. Jason Allen, a junior from Belfast, had the goal that put Vermont on the board in the Hofstra contest, and converted a penalty kick for the second goal against Maine. He now has three goals for the season. Vermont is 9-6-0 overall and 5-1-0 in the America East. Patton is also from Belfast.
Colm Kierans, a junior from Dublin, earned credit for an assist in North Florida’s 2-1 victory over Flagler. The Ospreys now sport a 10-3-0 record.
Old Dominion, coached by Belfast native Alan Dawson, won a pair of Colonial Athletic Association matches last week. The Monarchs went to overtime to defeat American, 3-2, then prevailed over William & Mary, 1-0. Old Dominion is 7-4-1 overall and 5-0 in conference play.
Dartmouth split a pair down Tobacco Road way. Fran O’Leary’s team lost to North Carolina, 3-1, then rebounded with a 2-1 victory over North Carolina-Greensboro. The Big Green, whose coach hails from Dublin, is now 8-3-0.
Christian Brothers visited the Gulf Coast of Florida, where they applied a 4-1 hurting to St. Leo. The Bucs move to 10-2-0 on the season. Gareth O’Sullivan of Ballina, Co. Mayo, coaches CBU.
Clemson split a pair, defeating Georgia State, 3-1, before losing to Virginia, 3-2. Belfast’s Trevor Adair coaches the Tigers (8-3-1, 1-3-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference).
Boston College managed only one goal in each of their last two matches, but the defense held up and they scored a victory over Pittsburgh, 1-0, and earned a tie with Connecticut, 1-1. Coached by Dubliner Ed Kelly, the Eagles are 6-5-1 overall and 5-2-1 in the Big East.
Barry Gorman had results similar to Kelly, as Penn State stopped Cornell, 3-0, before playing Ohio State to a 1-1 deadlock. The Nittany Lions are 9-3-1 overall and 3-1-1 in the Big Ten. Gorman is a Belfast man.
Gary Hamill’s Wingate squad dropped a 2-0 decision to Presbyterian. Wingate is now 6-5-0 and 4-2-0 in the South Atlantic Conference. Hamill is a Belfast native.
Women’s soccer
John Melody has Mercyhurst in fine fettle as the Lady Lakers are sailing along on a nine-match winning streak. Recent victories came at the expense of Wheeling Jesuit, 2-0, and West Virginia Wesleyan, 3-1. Freshman Geraldine O’Shea from Dorchester, Mass. had goals in each contest and now has 11 for the season. Coach Melody is from Dungarvan, Co. Waterford.
Silver linings were hard to come by for Sue Kelly as South Carolina (3-13-0, 0-6-0 Southeastern Conference) fell to Mississippi, 3-1, and Mississippi State, 2-1. Kelly comes from Cork.
Golf
Kent’s Martina Gillen is making an impression in her first semester at the Ohio school. The Dublin freshman finished fourth in the Lady Northern Invitational at the University of Minnesota’s Les Bolstad Golf Club. Gillen overcame an opening round 78 to shoot 74 and 72 on her next two tours of the layout to finish eight over par at 224. Kent finished fourth as a team. Ohio State’s Mollie Fankhauser shot 218, the low score for 54 holes.
Toledo’s Alan Murray, a junior from Bray, Co. Wicklow, tied for 49th place in the Fresno Lexus Classic at the Fort Washington Golf & Country Club in Fresno, Cal. He shot 225 (73-73-79), while Stanford’s Phillip Rowe was the medalist with his 208. Toledo finished third among teams.