How it Happened
In their second consecutive meet at Franklin Park, the Rams were led by senior Alec Font and sophomore Rock Fortna, and the Rhode Island Rams finished 17th in the 27 team field at the 2017 New England Championship. It marks a seven spot improvement upon last year's finish in the same meet. 

Coach John Copeland said he was happy with how the team improved from last year's position, and believed the team ran very well in the hot and humid conditions. Finally, he noted the top five Rhody finishers were separated by only 35 seconds. 

The Finish Line

• Senior Alec Font finished 50th overall, with a time of 26:23.
• Sophomore Rock Fortna was just behind Font with a time of 26:26, taking 54th overall.
• Junior Nicholas Celico finished 67th overall, clocking in with a time of 26:36.
• Junior Timothy Slack finished at 26:55, good for 87th overall.
• Sophomore Joseph Maguire took 92nd overall, finishing just behind Slack at 26:58.
• Freshman Matthew Vinacco cracked the top-100, finishing 99th with a time of 27:08.
• Freshman Daniel Ruggiero also competed for the Rams, finishing with a time of 29:44.

Team Results

1 - Stonehill (119)
2 - WIT (124)
3 - UMass-Amherst (133)
4 - Central Connecticut (166)
5 - Dartmouth (192)
6 - Vermont (194)
7 - UMass-Lowell (241)
8 - Northeastern (243)
9 - Yale (247)
10 - Maine (275)
11 - American International (277)
12 - New Hampshire (287)
13 - Quinnipiac (311)
14 - Sacred Heart (325)
15 - Southern New Hampshire (337)
16 - Bowdoin (348)
17 - Rhode Island (350)
18 - Merrimack (486)
19 - Holy Cross (490)
20 - Fitchburg State (523)
21 - Franklin Pierce (557)
22 - Bentley (583)
23 - Bridgewater State (621)
24 - Hartford (653)
25 - Assumption (687)
26 - Fairfield (711)
27 - Southern Connecticut (736)

Up Next
Rhode Island travels to Goddard Park in East Greenwich, R.I. where they will compete at Brown University's Rothenberg Run. The race is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 13 at 3:00 pm.