Ashleigh Kelley Repeats as GNAC Runner of Week

WINTHROP, Mass. – For the fourth time this season, senior Ashleigh Kelley (Stoneham, Mass.) has been recognized as the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Women's Cross Country Runner of the Week, announced Monday afternoon by the league office. It is the second instance in which Kelley has received the weekly honor in consecutive weeks.

Kelley broke the Regis women's cross country program record for fastest five-kilometer time this past Saturday at the Bruce Kirsh Cup in Hopkinton, N.H. She finished second overall and first among competitors from Division III schools with a time of 18:34.0, 27 seconds faster than the previous record set by Maggie Mann two years ago almost to the day (Oct. 5, 2019).

Kelley's time Saturday was also 43.5 seconds quicker than her previous collegiate five-kilometer best posted at the Wellesley College Invitational earlier this season. She finished seventh at Wellesley Sept. 3, followed by a fifth place finish at the Smith College Invitational Sept. 11 and a first place finish at the Elms College Classic Sept. 25, giving her three top-five placements and four top-10 finishes this season.

The Regis College cross country team begins a stretch of three straight races at Franklin Park in Boston with the Suffolk Invitational Saturday, Oct. 16. The women's six-kilometer race is scheduled to start at 1:15 p.m., followed by the men's eight-kilometer event at 2 p.m.