Equestrian closes out the fall

We wrapped up a successful season on Sunday, finishing second at UMass-Dartmouth. RWU was the reserve high point team with 32 points, finishing closely behind UMass Dartmouth with 36 points. The trophy and ribbon from this weekend are on display in the athletic suite in the rec center.

There were 5 personal blue ribbons won on Sunday, with Jacqui Allred taking the top spot in Intermediate Fences and Abby Hanc winning the blue in Novice Flat. Hanc also received second place in Novice Fences, qualifying her for the reserve high point ride off. Our Advanced Walk-Trot-Canter riders swept their division with Charnele Bourque, Shelby Dumond, and Kyle Alexander all receiving the blue in their classes.

Seniors Scott Pearson and Amelia Stasny received the second and third in their open fences class. Captain Alicia Levy also received the third place ribbon in her Novice Fences class, while Alexandra Pastor took the third in Intermediate Fences. Nicole McDonnell also received third place in her Novice Flat class. Lenny Carlucci received second place in Walk-Trot, a personal best for Carlucci and a great way to end the Fall season.

It has been an amazing season for our team and the coaches and riders could not be happier. We finished third in the region with 153 points. Brown and URI took the top spots. The spring season will begin on February 19 at Mystic Hunt Club.

- Cara McSoley

Women's Soccer pushing through to NCAAs

After an amazing weekend for the Women’s Soccer team, we have even more to look forward to. Making it the NCAAs is such an accomplishment for our team and we could not be more excited. Being the top seed #1 in the TCCC, we were able to host the Quarterfinals, Semifinals and the Championship at home. All of our hard work paid off and we had a successful postseason. We played Gordon College at home in the Quarterfinals and won 2-0. The Semifinals was against the fourth-seeded team, University of New England, who we defeated in the first overtime period, 2-1. Noelle Marston scored in the first couple of minutes to end the game and take us into the finals. When we found out we were to play Endicott in the finals we were all excited. Endicott, being our biggest rival for the past couple years, was the team we wanted to beat. A home championship game vs. Endicott was the ideal game for us.

The final game was one of the most intense games I have ever been a part of. Going into halftime we were up 1-0 but we all knew that meant nothing. We knew the next 45 minutes of this game was going to be a constant battle. When one of their midfielders shot from 6 yards out to tie up the game, we knew this game was not going to be easy. The intensity rose when it was tied until Endicott’s most dangerous forward blasted the ball into the net. When the score was 2-1, I didn’t even know what to think looking at the scoreboard with about 18 minutes left to play. That was until Alexa Maher hit the most perfect shot right about the goalie’s hands to tie up the game. From that moment the game turned around and we were ready to win! Going into the two overtime periods both us and Endicott had opportunities to score, but none were as close as Katie Fusaro’s shot with 3 seconds left. The ball was just shy as being the game-winning goal, by nailing the crossbar to end the overtime.

Going into penalty kicks was absolutely nerve-racking, but thinking back to all of the practices when we ended with PK’s, I knew we had it. Our order went Devon Leighton, Maddy Howard, Alexa Maher and finally Laurin Pendleton. All four made their shots to win. But one person who came up huge in the shootout was keeper Kelsey McGee. When one of the toughest defenders on the Endicott team took her shot, Kelsey saved it and gave us all a sense of confidence. When the third Endicott shooter went to take her shot and McGee saved it again, I was in shock and knew we had won it! For Kelsey to save two shots in a shootout is unbelievable. Even for a goalie to save just one shot is great, but for her to save two ensured us to win! She had a great game overall and really showed it in the PK’s. Winning the 2010 TCCC Finals on our home field was one of the most amazing feelings I have ever had and I know we all won’t forget that moment! We are so grateful that all of our hard work throughout this season really paid off in the end, and we can’t wait to continue our season next weekend.

On Thursday we will be heading to Oneonta, N.Y. to play Oneonta State in the first round of the NCAAs. This will be out second appearance in the national tournament and we could not be more excited. LET’S GO HAWKS!

Sailing at the Hoyt Trophy

This weekend we traveled to Brown to sail at the Sherman Hoyt Trophy. On Saturday we packed ourselves into the vans at 845, and of course had to make a ritual stop at Dunkin’s before hitting the highway for our short, twenty-minute drive. When we got to the venue it was about 10 knots with winds gusting to about 13. Division A sailed 8 complete races with all top five finishes except for the final race where Kelly and Cy finished tenth. Overall for the day that put them in second for A division. Alec and Sophie sailed six complete races along with the rest of B division. Since the race committee wasn't sure if there would be enough wind to get many races in on Sunday, they decided to let A finish the day with two extra races, so that B division could pick up the next day with two more. Overall after racing on Saturday, Alec and Sophie were in fifth in B division. For our overall final place on Saturday our team was in second place behind BC, with a three point difference between first and second. We knew that Sunday would be a crucial day if we wanted to gain back those three points.

We met at the vans at 8:30 (earlier than Saturday, because Amanda promised us we could go to Bristol Bagelworks instead Dunks for breakfast). As we sat at the vans waiting, Amanda pulled up and asked us to help her put the Rhodes in the water so that parents could sail it later in the day. So we actually ended up going to Dunks anyways, and it was very disappointing. Well, unfortunately for us, the forecast for Sunday was right on with winds at 0 knots. We rigged up our boat in hopes that the wind would pick up and B division would be able to go out and sail, but the wait turned into a five hour wait which eventually ended up in the day being called. There was no racing on Sunday and so we had to accept our second place finish behind BC. Even though this is a frustration to the team, we will have the last laugh as we are quickly working our way to the top. Even though there was no sailing on Sunday, we had a great bonding experience as a team which we will never forget. We were also left to wonder that if maybe we could have gone to Bristol Bagelworks, the day would have turned out differently…

- Sophie Bellacosa

Equestrian at the Becker Show

The Roger Williams Equestrian Team competed this weekend at Becker College. Brown University came out on top with 39 points, and RWU tied for fourth with 29 points.

There were four personal first place ribbons received by Captain Shannon O’Keefe in open fences, Nicole McDonnell in novice fences, Rachel Asadorian in novice flat, and Cara McSoley in advanced walk trot canter.

Overall, the RWU equestrians had a very successful day with Erin DeMarco coming in at second place in novice flat. Scott Pearson received third place in both open fences and open flat and Abby Hanc, Rebecca Pettit, and Bridget Wright also received third place in their events.

This Saturday, October 30, the RWU Equestrian Team will be hosting a show at the Glen Farm right over the bridge in Portsmouth. Come out and support your riders and see what the equestrian team is all about!

- Cara McSoley

Equestrian starts off season 5th

The Roger Williams Equestrian Team kicked off the show season with a fifth place finish at the URI show. The team did a great job with multiple first place finishes on the team. Freshman and new rider Rachel Asadorian took home two first place ribbons from her first show with the team. We can expect great things from her in upcoming shows!

Chelsea Weiner, Abby Hanc, and Alex Pastor all took home a first place ribbon as well, adding to the team total points of 27. Everyone at the show had a good time supporting each other and watching everyone’s rides.

Coming up for the team is our home show at Glen Farm on October 30, 2010. Come join us at our first show at the new barn and support our team!

- Kyle Alexander

Women’s Cross Country journey to conference

The hard, long 5-10 mile practices a day continue to pay off and can be reflected in our meets. Two weekends ago, we competed at the Gordon Pop Crowell Invitational, in which we placed 6th out of 26 teams. Our top seven had some excellent performances and personal best times. Sophomore Lily Rutler pr’d (personal record and set a school record) with a time of 19:07, placing fourth out of 276 runners! Close behind, Vanessa Camiolo in 30th with 20:21, Kaitlin Crowley in 32nd with 20:25 (PR!), myself in 33rd with 20:27 (PR!), Annie Cassidy in her first collegiate race placing 36th with 20:31, Lauren Ashby 49th with 20:46 (PR!) and Katie O’Koren finishing 55th with a time of 20:55. All top seven scorers ran the 5k course in less than 21 minutes, proving our depth. Salve (our rivals) managed to win the meet, and UNE snuck by us, but I’m confident we’ll get them back at conference.

Looking toward the next few big meets, Coach made the decision to sit the top 7 runners out of the Westfield State Invitational, which would give that group of girls the chance to train harder, rest from race pace, and focus on Albany and conference. Meanwhile, other ladies stepped up big at Westfield. Nina Groseclose finished first for RWU placing 86th out of 311, followed close by Hailey Wolfe, Lauren Ricardi, Katie Wilson, Leah Seyer and Michele Needham. While those racing competed, the top runners from the previous meet ran a 50 minute run around the Westfield Campus (the previous day we ran hills, which we could all definitely feel the next day!!)

Some days our legs feel great, while other days we all feel like our legs weigh over a hundred pounds a piece. Regardless, as a competitive runner, we learn to mentally push ourselves through just about anything. Coach emailed us a quote that talked about running being symbolic to life and you have to drive yourself to overcome the obstacles even if you think you can’t. At the end of a race, which has proven to be the most difficult, it’s the inner strength that will mentally get you through the finish line (it’s all about fighting the pain, managing the pain, and accepting the pain; might sound kind of harsh but running takes a serious toll on our bodies!!). Coach has given us a mental guideline that’s brought us to the success we’ve had so far and I truly believe with this group of girls, we have the physical ability and competitive mentality to out run every team at conference (and defend our title!!!).

Despite some teams placing higher at meets up until now, the hard work and miles we’ve put in on a daily basis is what’s going to clinch us the title in that last mile. This weekend we have our first overnight at University of Albany, in which Coach has mentioned should be an extremely fast paced race (hopefully more PR’s!!). Let’s go get it ladies, “Believe!”

- Jessica Kraiza

Moving on to the Semifinals for Women’s Tennis!

After a tough match against Curry, finally beating Colby Sawyer, and finishing second in the conference, I know this year the women’s tennis team can go all the way and win the conference.

Playing Curry College on October 5th, as a team, we proved we can win any match. Falling fast in the doubles, down 0-3 in the match, we knew we had our work cut out for us. Coming back in the singles, as the sun went down, we tied Curry 4-4. It was literally a sight for the deciding match of Olivia Hilton at 5th singles had to be moved to inside courts down the road. Since Curry didn’t have lights and Olivia split sets with her opponent, she had to finish the final set indoors for the match. She pulled through, beating her opponent and winning us the match, well-deserved. We worked hard through that match, refusing to loose, the whole team contributing to the win. We then knew we could do anything.

After that match, Colby-Sawyer seemed to be a breeze, for we defeated them 8-1 to clinch our 2nd spot in the conference. Just two days ago (Tuesday the 12th), we won our first playoff match against WNEC taking two of the doubles and immediately 3 of the singles for the first to 5 to win the match. We are now ready for the semifinals next Wednesday, and then moving on to the finals on October 23rd.

Our team has come such a long way, always working hard, and looking to improve. We put our hearts into the game, leaving everything we have on the court. We deserve to win the conference and have proved that we certainly can. Come support our women’s tennis! GO HAWKS!

- Sam Curran

Volleyball Swag

Our goals remain unchanged as we head into the last month of our season. We continue to fight to stay in the top spot in the conference. As of now we are undefeated in the TCCC and could potentially be hosting the tournament for the championship at RWU. We can’t believe that we only have 7 regular season games left because we feel like we’re just getting started. We have improved so much this year compared to last year in basically every aspect. Serving, passing, hitting and blocking will continue to get better so that by the end of the regular season we are in tip top shape for the playoffs.

We have defeated our toughest competition thus far which includes Endicott and Colby-Sawyer both in 3 games to 1. Tonight we play WNEC which is a huge game for us being that we took the championship title from them last year. WNEC will be coming after us to try to redeem themselves, but we’re not going to let them achieve anything. In fact the opposite will happen by us further proving that the outcome of last year’s championship had nothing to do with luck. It had to do with hard work, skill, determination and heart. Our blocking is going to be on point, our defense will be unstoppable and our hitters are going to be aggressive and smart.

The RWU VB team is on its biggest winning streak of the season with 7 consecutive and this past weekend defeated RIC and JWU for the Rhode Island Championship.

We are ready to go, and to bring home another win today to be 21-3 and 7-0 in the conference. Every opposing team from here on out is going to have to bring their “A” game because we are in domination mode. We are the toughest team to beat in the conference.

Volleyball Swag.

- Jill Hurd

Keeping up with Men's Soccer

The team suffered their second conference loss, falling to Nichols College on a rain-drenched night, snapping a 3-game winning streak. However, the result was not indicative of how hard-fought much of the match was played. Some stellar goalkeeping by the way of Nichols helped keep us at bay. John Pearson, Brian Swindell and Jared Falconer and others had stellar scoring opportunities. You’ll get ‘em next time guys.

Last Saturday night, we traveled to Henniker, New Hampshire to battle the New England College Pilgrims. During the course of the match, we displayed stellar possession, moving the ball about the pitch with ease. It truly was a sight to see. Then in the 60th minute defender, Kamali Webson delivered a monstrous headed blast off the cross bar, then tickling the twine, providing the game’s only goal. Webson elevated over the opposition, smiled, then punished the ball into the goal. Throughout the remainder of the match the Pilgrims failed to convert on several half chances as the Hawk “D” stymied them.

September 28th the Hawks traveled up to Paxton, MA to battle the AmCats of Anna Maria College in TCCC play. The night was dreary, but our play was not. We came out rip roaring; as Brian Swindell tapped in a poacher-esque, Ruud Van Nistelrooy-like goal in the 7th minute as he out foxed the last defender and the goalkeeper. For the remainder of the game we unfortunately found the more of the side netting rather than the back of the net. From my count, we fired 8 shots into the side netting as they went on to outshoot the AmCats 22-7.

Three days earlier, the Hawks clashed with the Chargers hailing from the arctic tundra of New London, NH. Every year this is the game that is circled on my schedule, as I attended CSC before heading to greener pastures—Roger Williams. Since I am a “co-manager” I was limited to filling water bottles, vehement cheering and partaking in celebratory chest bumps with Tim Cunningham our team scores. But I digress, Roger Williams dictated the tempo throughout the course of play, however, at times, Colby-Sawyer would create some half chances, but ultimately failed to convert. In the 21st minute, Bradley MacDonald deftly maneuvered around several members of the Charger “D” before netting the only goal of the game.

- TJ Doherty

Women's Soccer still rolling

After a 4-1 win Tuesday night against Nichols College, our team continues the victorious trail with an overall record of 8-4 and 7-0 in the TCCC. Though Nichols scored the first goal of the game, we quickly retaliated with a carefully placed goal from Alexa Maher off of a rebound. Using this goal as motivation, our energy quickly picked up as we continued to dominate the pace of the game.

In the 22nd minute Laurin Pendleton tipped the ball to Noelle Marston to gain a 2-1 lead. The next goal came only four minutes into the second half when Pendleton connected with Katie Fusaro off a cross from the right, as Fusaro strategically placed the ball into the left hand corner of the net.

Maddie Howard had a spectacular game performance last night, adding to her accomplishments. Howard scored the fourth and final goal off a free kick just outside the 18 yard box. We had a strong strong the entire 90 minutes. With a sharp and consistent performance by the defense, the Bison were unable to successfully penetrate the Hawks defensive third.

Great distribution by the midfield made the course of the game fluid, fast and in the Hawks favor. We’re certainly on a roll with an exciting winning streak. We have some tough games headed our way, and we will be sure to be perfectly prepared.

- Michelle Meagher

Men’s Cross Country coming on strong

Our team has really shown its strength and depth in these last two weeks. Rookie runners, Jack Ferguson, Henry Loughlin, Chase Osgood, and Jeremy Siegel, have shown a continuing presence as they join Jon Ellis, Jeff Pini, Andrew Gallant, and myself.

We competed at the UMass-Dartmouth Invite two weekends ago and at the Gordon Invite this past weekend. Dartmouth was the first 8k of the season but that didn't seem to bother us. In the words of Forrest Gump, "That day, for no particular reason, I decided to go for a little run. So I ran to the end of the road. And when I got there, I thought maybe I'd run to the end of town..." What's a couple more miles?

The big race took place this past weekend in Beverly, Massachusetts. We raced against a field of 20+ teams which included a lot of the other teams in The Commonwealth Coast Conference, such as Gordon and Endicott. We had to compete without 2 of our top 7, but when the team scores were totaled Roger Williams finished in 4th place overall, but 1st in our conference. The final team scores were, Roger Williams – 154, Gordon – 211.

So looking into the future, we seem to be on the right course as we approach the conference championship on October 30th, right here at Colt State Park.

“Life’s battles don't always go to the strongest or fastest man, But sooner or later the man who wins is the fellow who thinks he can.”

- Tom Maybury

Coming through at the Danmark Trophy

This weekend, our sailing abilities, strength, and Cy Thompson's leadership skills were all put to the test on Saturday morning. Cy Thompson, Kelly Stannard, Alec Anderson, Alex Rudkin, and myself (all heading to Coast Guard Academy for the Danmark Trophy), and Andrew Tamblyn, Dan Goldman, Connor Needham, and Tyler Wilson (headed to the Conn College Invitational at Conn College), wearily piled ourselves into the van and started the journey down to Connecticut. After making a much needed dunks stop we were on our way.

When we arrived at the Danmark, there was about 5 knots of wind and we were told it would continue to die out throughout the day. Sure enough by about 3 in the afternoon the wind was beginning to die down. B Division ended up only getting in seven races, while A Division sailed eight. At the end of day one, Cy Thompson and Kelly Stannard were in sixth in A division, and Alec Anderson and Sophie Bellacosa were in fifth in B division.

We knew Sunday was going to be a tough day with the wind speeds up and the competition becoming more crucial. After a restful Saturday night, we all awoke alert and ready for Sunday's racing. When we got to Coast Guard Academy, all we really wanted to do was hide in the warm van or at least we wished that we had as many base layers and sweatshirts and sweatpants as the cool BC sailors with all their new Under Armour gear. It was about 50 degrees when we got to Coast Guard and about 10 knots, so we bundled up and headed out to the race course. Alec and I began the day with a 13 (which we slowly began to forget happened throughout the day), then got a 1, 3, 1, 4 after that.

At this point the wind was gusting at some points to about 20-25 knots so I was switched out for heavy air crew Alex Rudkin to save the day. Cy and Kelly hadn’t been handling the breeze very well (probably due to Kelly’s short stature and lack of hiking ability in the heavy winds), so I was quickly substituted back into A Division to sail with Cy. While Alec and Alex continued to struggle with their next few races, but ended the last race with a solid 6^th, Cy and I picked up our game to get a 1, 2, 1, 4 for our last four races.

Overall at the Danmark trophy, our team finished second. This was a huge accomplishment and we were all very proud of the way we conducted ourselves throughout the weekend, especially since we had to coaches to give us wonderful advice. Cy Thompson really showed his true leadership abilities as he rallied us each morning and helped wind us down at night. Also a special thank you to the freshmen Alex and Connor for performing their duties with getting lunches and cleaning the vans.

Also congratulations to Cameron Pimentel and Bianca Rom who finished an astounding six 1st place finishes on Sunday at the smith trophy at MIT, and went on to win A division. Good work Cam and Bianca!

And also congrats to our coaches Amanda Callahan and Colin Merrick for finishing first at the Hinman Trophy in Seattle, Washington!

- Sophie Bellacosa

Women's Soccer standing strong!

The Women’s Soccer team is in a great spot right now being 6-0 in the CCC with an overall record of 7-3. In our last couple games we have really been able to connect as a team. The ball movement is moving much quicker, we’re making more passes to feet, creating 1-touch plays, and just overall stepping up to win games. As a team, we all know the importance every game has on our standing in the conference and we are working every game to keep an undefeated record in conference.

Our last game was up in Henniker, New Hampshire against New England College on their brand new turf field. We came out excited to play on what we called, “the perfect day for soccer”. The weather was warm with a cool fall breeze blowing. Last year we had beaten NEC 8-1 but this year they were a completely different team with many starting freshmen, so we didn’t know what to expect for the new comers. For the majority of the game it was 2-0 after Laurin Pendleton netted two goals. One came off a header from Alexa Maher and one was a hard driven shot to the far bottom corner. We held on to our 2-0 lead until about halfway through the second half when the Pilgrims earned their first point. With this goal came a lot of energy from the opposing team and we did not feel comfortable with a 2-1 score. That was until Devon Leighton scored the insurance goal with 2 minutes left in the game. The final score was 3-1.

The four games before NEC were all shutouts against Gordon, Salve Regina, Colby-Sawyer and Anna Maria. Scoring 13 goals in these games combined. We really started to come together as a team at the Salve Regina game and I think our strong play keeps continuing throughout our games. And we all know it needs to with our difficult games coming up in the next two weeks. We have our hardest competition in our next few games and we’re ready to win them all!

-Julie Moody

Volleyball getting ready for big match against Endicott!

Goals: Have the best hitting percentage, service aces percentage, blocks, and most digs in the conference. Be 1st place in the conference. Host the TCCC Championship match at RWU so that we can have home court advantage and all the support from our super-fans. Win the TCCC Championship and advance to the NCAA’s and make it past the first round.

Since day one we have been focused on each individual day in order to get better and meet our goals for the end of the season. In the past few weeks we have been focusing on a wide spectrum of skills. We have been improving our serve to be one of the top serving teams in the conference along with trying to improve our blocking percentage and defensive digs. We try to think of every day as a championship and intend to work as hard as we can every day of the week. Coach videotapes some of our practices so that a few days out of the week we can all watch and review ourselves. This is helpful and contributes to our success by letting us see what we are doing wrong and how we can improve individually, but also as a team.

We are always coming up with new ways to pump ourselves up before games because it is very important to have energy and concentration. Marilu spent a few hours coming up with a rap called “Volleyball Swag” which we all know the words to and sing it before every game. You might just see us walking through campus and hear some volleyball swag words being sung, so feel free to join in. Little things like this make our team connected and creates chemistry on and off the court. We are very focused and know what we want to accomplish this year during our season.

We have significantly improved our serving and currently are 3rd out of 12 teams, which last year we were at the bottom of the list. We are leading the conference in hitting percentage along with number of kills and assists. We still need to improve our blocking as we currently hold the 8th spot out of 12. We are 3rd in the conference with service aces and 5th in digs. Our current record is 13-3 and 2-0 in the conference.

On away games our families are very united and this past weekend at Trinity we were provided with a great lunch given by our parents. Our parents brought cold cuts, fruit and so many yummy desserts such as homemade whoopee pies! We are lucky to have such great support which is something we greatly appreciate. Our fan base has significantly increased and it makes us extremely happy to hear our friends cheering us on in the stands. It gives us the confidence we need to crush our opponent, so we want to say thank you and we would love to see more and more fans!

There is still a lot of improvement to be done, but we are definitely heading in the right direction to win the TCCC Championship again this year. We play Endicott on Wednesday the 29th at 7:00 and are hoping to see a lot of support in the stands! We have been working hard in practice the past few days preparing for this huge game. We are extremely pumped and can’t wait to play! Annihilation mode!

Fast Fact: We killed Endicott once during the regular season 3-0 and then in the semi-finals killed them again 3-0 and advanced to win the TCCC Championship.

- Jill Hurd

RWU Equestrian Riding to the Top!

The RWU Equestrian team is back in the saddle and settling into the new barn. With lessons in full swing, the riders are getting to know the horses and facilities and everything is going very smoothly. Ted Torrey, the Glen Farm manager, and all of the other patrons of the Glen have been so welcoming in helping the riders get comfortable with the new changes.

This weekend the season will be kicked off at the home of the URI Rams, where all members of the team will get a chance to ride. URI is one of the “teams to beat” within the region, so let’s take the blue on their own turf!

With a new region, new riders, and new horses, the Equestrian team is the strongest it’s been in years. There is so much anticipation for the start of the season and the team is really beginning to mesh. All of the coaches and riders are pumped for the start of the season and are ready to dominate the region! Let’s go Hawks!

- Cara McSoley

Determined to defend our title of 10-time Conference Champs

Since day one, Coach has continuously reminded us that in order to defend our title, we’ll have to be willing to do the little things that will ultimately get each one of us to running our best races. After a long & exhausting week long preseason full of an extensive amount of miles on our feet, Coach told us we had just survived the toughest preseason in all of his years coaching here. All of the sweat, long runs every day after 8-hour work days & hard training all summer, I personally felt confident it was going to be a successful season.

Running for a 10-time Conference winning program is somewhat intimidating, and puts a feeling of pressure on each one of us, as we all want to continue the success of the program and proud fully keep the title here at RWU. Graduating around 5 scorers from last season, I think everyone was unsure who would be stepping up to fill the big shoes that left. Returning this year are senior captains Sam Buechner, Michelle Needham and Leah Sayer, as well as valuable members Lauren Ashby, Katie Crowley, Nina Groseclose, Katie O’Koren, Lauren Riccardi, Katie Wilson and All-TCCC top runner Lily Rutler. 7 New Runners: juniors myself (Jess Kraiza) & Alex Honkala, sophomore Marissa Jambor, and freshman Vanessa Camiolo, Annie Cassidy, Kristen St. Pierre, and Hailey Wolfe.

Meet #1: Bryant University Invitational. To sum it up: day of Hurricane Earl Warnings, competing after the men’s race in the pouring rain, on what’s known to be a “hilly” course against all Division 1 teams. New to Cross Country, it was my first collegiate race ever, and weighing in all the factors of the day, I was beyond nervous (I know Alex & all the freshmen were too!). Coach prepared us well, and I’d say we showed some of the Division One runners what RWU was all about. Out of the 55 runners, Lily had a strong first performance placing 18th with 21:14, alongside an impressive first performance from our freshman Kristen St. Pierre (25th) & Vanessa Camiolo (28th). Happy with my first performance, I came in next placing 30th. Rounding out the top 7 on the day, Lauren Ashby ( 34th), Sam Beuchner ( 27th),and Alex Honkala ( 38th).

Meet #2 Roger Williams Invitational. Previously winning our home meet last year, we weren’t completely satisfied with our 3rd place finish out of 7 teams, as Coach instilled in our minds that we should look to perform better on a personal level in each meet looking back to our last season. On a positive note, every girl on the team improved their times from Bryant, which is promising looking to the future. Top 7 runners of the day: leading the way Lily, who placed 7th out of 87 runners finished in 20:04, followed by Vanessa (14th), Kristen (17th), Alex (18th), myself ( 20th), Katie O’Koren (28th), and Lauren Ashby (31st).

Meet #3 UMass-Dartmouth Invitational. Continuing to improve, we had some great times on Dartmouth’s 5k, faster paced course. At the starting line there were 290 runners in the varsity race, all taking off at the same time. At the shot of the gun, a stampede took off full of extremely aggressive girls fighting for the front of the pack. Racing strong and setting an RWU time record & named TCCC Runner of the Week two times this season, Lily Rutler placed 33rd with an outstanding time of 19:17. Following with personal best records this season, Vanessa 73rd almost breaking sub-20 with 20:03, Alex placing 115th at 20:36, myself in 126th at 20:44, and Sam finishing up the scoring for our team, placing 131 with a time of 20:51. Also, Katie Crowley had an all-time personal best in the sub-varsity race with a 20:30 race time! Everyone yet again has continued to improve their times since the first race. I really think if we keep it up, and continue to practice hard, we will have another shot to win conference.

We have this next weekend off & the following weekend at Gordon. The next two weeks full of long runs (Coach mentioned around 10 miles Sunday morning practice!!) and speed workouts will be tough, but in the long run looking toward our season goals, will be worth it. We have a great, supportive group of girls, who have a lot of talent, hawk pride, and heart. I definitely think we can do this.

-Jess Kraiza

Leave it all on the court

Women’s Tennis for RWU is off to a good start for our season with a 3-1 conference record. We came out of pre-season ready to work, ready for a new year. Being a freshman on the team, I was welcomed into a hard-working atmosphere and a team who knows how to work together towards one goal. After flying through our first 3 conference matches, after a tough non-conference opener against Babson, we knew that the hard work should not stop there.

Family and friends have been extremely supportive, especially during our “family weekend” match this past Saturday against Eastern Nazarene College on our home courts. Never-ending support from our coaches has made us the players we are today. We have been striving to become better as individuals and as a whole which is our main focus.

Getting pumped for our Nichols match last week, we came into some frustration with the match, letting them get the best of us. But today is a new day; we will not falter in our attitude towards working for the betterment of the team. Our challenge to us is our mentality, since everyone has the skill to win any match. Getting the mindset we need for each match ahead of us, I know we can kick butt for the rest of our season!

-Sam Curran

Sailing heading to NY for Nevin's Trophy

The weekend of the Nevin's Trophy started off with a bit of a slump, as myself, Alec Anderson, Josh Saltmarsh, Alyssa Seifert, Alex, Cameron Pimental, and Colin (COACH) packed ourselves and our soaking wet gear into one of the smaller athletic vans which the school had to offer. After having an always delicious dinner from the commons, we found ourselves on a four-hour drive down to Amityville, NY. Mr. and Mrs. Rom were waiting for us at their house with brownies and cookies to warm us up before bed. Colin made sure to remind everyone several times that we would be getting up at 7 AM, in order to be on the road at 7:30.

Saturday morning we were awoken by the smell of bacon, scrambled eggs, muffins, toast and fresh coffee as we arose from our beds. When we arrived at King's Point, there was a small breeze on the water so we all rigged up our boats and got out onto the water for the first race at 9:45. A somewhat steady wind from a northern direction held for about 5 races, but by the sixth began to die down drastically. By the 7th race everyone was moving very slowly. Only A division was able to complete 7 races on Saturday, while B Division, and the laser division had their 7th races called because there was no wind. We were sent in for a postponement on shore, which quickly turned to "no more sailing today". After a nice dinner with the Rom’s and their dog, Princess, we were all just about ready for bed (except for Colin, who gets really excited after a long day on the water).

Sunday morning we awoke to a delightful breakfast of French toast and other yummy food. Unfortunately, Alec had gotten his crew–namely me –sick with his cold-like symptoms, and so we were a little unsure of the day ahead. When we got to the venue, there was the faintest hint of breeze on the water. We rigged up and got ready to sail, and then were told there was a fifteen minute postponement ashore. This turned into about 45 minutes, after which we were told to head out to the course. The race committee got about 2 minutes and 17 seconds into the first start of the day, for lasers, and that was the last whistle to be heard on the water at King's Point. The postponement flag went up, as everyone waited for the breeze to come back on. But it never came. We waited for about two hours and then were told to head in for postponement ashore. About 45 minutes into this, we were told to head home, the wind wasn't coming, and so we would not be sailing.

After a long and at times frustrating weekend, Cameron ended up with a 7th in the laser division (his first ever full-rig regatta)! Alyssa and Josh ended up with a 19th in B division, and Alec and I finished the weekend in fourth (one point behind third and second!). Overall we finished 12th at the Nevin's Trophy in Kings Point, NY.

Also, congrats to Haley Powell and Bianca Rom, who finished fourth at the Mrs. Hurst Bowel at Dartmouth. They were just a few points shy of third!

Another congrats to Tucker Blagden and Kathleen Keaveney, for their fourth place finish in B division at the Hatch Brown Trophy at MIT. They were also just a point away from second and third!

Thank you to Mr. and Mrs. Rom for being such great hosts for the sailors who traveled to the Nevin's Trophy!

- Sophie Bellacosa

Men's Cross Country back on the course

The men’s cross country team is still riding off of the first place finish in last fall’s Conference Championship. The Roger Williams Hawks pulled off the win by 3 points, and they were a well deserved three points. As the 2009-2010 school year finished up the men’s Cross Country Team had to say good-bye to 6 seniors; Tim Eynatian, Todd Massari, Chris Disciullo, Michael Russo, and Stephen Leonetti. The will be missed but we wish them the best of luck.

It is now the 2010 season for the Men’s Cross Country team and we welcome 9 new hawks to the team; Jamie Goodwick (Jr.), Kyle DeMarche (Fr.), Matt Duggan (Fr.), John Ferguson (Fr.), David Fitol (Fr.), Dan Herbein (Fr.), Jeremy Kacher (Fr.), Henry Loughlin (Fr.), and Chase Osgood (Fr.). They all are very strong and have adapted well to college training as well as the races.

Just a real quick run through of how the scoring works in Cross Country, the top 5 runners places for each team are added together and, like golf, the lowest scoring team, wins. If there is a tie then the 6th and 7th runner is added to the score to determine the winner.

We have competed in 2 invites already, and have done very well in both; our first meet was at Bryant College in Smithfield, RI. Mitch Leveille (22nd), Jack Ferguson (29th), Jon Ellis (36th), Tom Maybury (37th), Jeremy Kacher (54th), Henry Loughlin (56th), Andrew Gallant (57th), and Brian Ki (74th) were the top 8 finishers. Our second invitational was a home meet at Colt State Park, where the RWU Hawks took 3rd place; Mitch Leveille (7th), John Ferguson (10th), Jon Ellis (14th), Tom Maybury (16th), Henry Loughlin (19th), Andrew Gallant (20th), Jeremy Kacher (21st), and Chase Osgood (22nd) were our top 8 runners. Jamie Goodwick and Dan Herbein were not far behind Chase.

We are excited for the rest of the season to play out because we have a lot of young potential as well as a great deal of returning talent.

Women's Soccer looking good early on

We are 2-2 right now and 1-0 in the conference. We opened the season with a tough game vs. Wheaton. They always prove to be a very strong team and this year was no exception. We played much better than our 4-0 loss last season when we were still trying to work on our new formation. This year we scored first and held the game to 1-0 for the first half. The second half Wheaton was able to score 2 times while we were left with our lone goal from the first half. At the Springfield College Invitational we played the regionally ranked #5 Springfield and beat them 1-0. Freshman Hannah Noel earned her first goal by holding composure and lofting the ball right over the keeper’s hands. Also, Kelsey McGee, our starting goalkeeper, who transferred from LeMoyne, played strong in the goal for us. The next day at the Championship game of the tournament we fell short to Eastern Connecticut State. I would say this game we realized how important it is to play to feet and also to adjust to a different team's formation. Losing the game 3-1 was not the best way to leave our weekend in Springfield.

Our first conference game was against Curry this past Saturday, we won 3-2. Our next game will be our last out of conference game for almost a month. This game is Thursday at Brandeis. Since I have been a freshman our game against Brandeis has always been a fight and good game. In 2007 we lost, 2008 we won and 2009 we had a 0-0 tie. For my senior year I am looking to get the win and prove to be the better team this year. We know as a team we need to work hard through every play and not take one break with a team like Brandeis, who is also regionally ranked at #9. We need to beat them just like we beat Springfield and make people wonder why WE aren't ranked.

I am looking forward to the rest of this season. We have a great team with a lot of great returning players and the group of freshmen came in strong, as well. Our team goal is to end this season with the CCC Championship and to make it even further in the NCAAs than our 2008 season! GO HAWKS!

- Julie Moody

Volleyball off to a great start

The volleyball team is off to a great start as they are currently 8-1 in their season. Starting off playing Eastern Connecticut State University and defeating them in three games, the Hawks are on a roll with very high hopes for the season. Entering the Springfield tournament the Hawks came out strong defeating Lasell, Brandeis, and Westfield State.

In the championship match against Springfield, the Hawks took the first game but fell short the next three games, losing their first match of the season. Following the weekend in Springfield the Hawks traveled to Emmanuel during the week and swept them in three games bringing the Hawks record to 5-1.

Just this past weekend the Hawks hosted the RWU Invitational with UNE, Rivier, and NYU Polytechnic. They defeated all three teams therefore winning the invitational championship advancing their record to 8-1. Each person plays a huge role on the team which is why the Lady Hawks have been so successful thus far. They will continue to improve and focus on each day at a time so that when the end of the season comes, they will be ready to dominate in the CCC tournament.

- Jill Hurd