by Dan Charapp ’25 on November 9, 2023
Friar Sports
The Providence College women’s cross country team has been on a tear this year, being ranked No. 14 in the nation. The team started their season at Brown University’s Rothenberg Invitational in Attleboro, MA with the Friars capturing the top three finishes. Reese Fahys ’27 led the Friars in the race at 10:44.0, followed by Cara Laverty ’26 and Alex O’Neill GS ’23 at 10:53.3 and 10:58.2, respectively. Providence finished first in the meet with a score of 23 points. A week later, the team participated in the Friar Invitational, winning the race with 25 points and three runners finishing in the top five. Kimberley May ’25 finished first with a time of 13:56.2, while Lilly Tuck ’24 and Laura Mooney ’24 finished third and fifth with times of 14:14.0 and 14:21.4. The women’s team most recently participated in the University of Virginia Invitational, placing eighth with a score of 246 points among a field of 23 teams. May once again finished in front for the Friars, placing tenth overall at 16:34.8. The team will compete in the New England Championship on Oct. 7 in Boston, followed by the Nuttycombe Invitational in Madison, Wisconsin on Friday, Oct. 13. This is one of the premier events for college cross country and will feature 35 schools from around the nation. The team will also compete in the Central Connecticut State University Invitational in New Britain, Connecticut on Friday, Oct. 20. The Big East Championship will be held on Oct. 28 in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
The men’s cross country team participated in the same invitationals as the women’s team. The team scored 99 points in the Rothenberg Invitational, finishing fourth out of six schools. Abdel Laadjel ’25 and Liam Back ’24 were the two frontrunners for Providence in both the Friar and UVA Invitationals. The Friars placed second out of six schools in the Friar Invitational with 67 points. Laadjel finished first overall with a time of 18:03.6, followed by Back in sixth place with a time of 18:26.4. In the UVA invitational, the Friars scored 489 points and placed 21st of 23, with Back finishing only a second before Laadjel. The men’s team will compete in the Nuttycombe and the CCSU Invitationals along with the women’s team. The team will also be participating in the Big East Championship on Oct. 28.