Eastbayri.com

PAWTUCKET — St. Philomena School runner Eliza Rego captured her third straight Catholic Athletic League state cross country title and helped her team to a fourth-place finish in the race held at Pawtucket’s Slater Park recently.

Rego, an eighth-grader from Warren, set a new meet record for the third consecutive year when she covered the 1.85-mile course with a time of 11:47. The time was a second better than her effort as a seventh-grader and was 41 seconds better than runner-up Allison Walsh of Immaculate.

“She just runs on the side. She’s a year-round soccer player,” said St. Philomena coach Phil Quinn. “If she continues progressing at running, she probably could run at most colleges. She’s just a natural.”

The girls’ team’s finish was its best ever and just 18 points behind Walsh’s winning Immaculate team. St. Margaret’s (56) and Mercymount (63) were second and third out of 22 total squads. Rounding out the St. Phil’s scorers were Victoria Polland (12th, 13:14), Sam Lesseuir (18th, 13:32) and Andrea St. Laurent (37th, 14:23). The 23 St. Philomena runners comprised just over 10 percent of the girls’ field.

The St. Phil’s boys’ team, paced by a sixth-place finish (11:53) from Andrew Fontes, placed tenth in the 22-school standings with 179 points. The placefinishes of Nick Williams (8th, 11:58), Shaun Abbate (44th, 13:40) and Ben Esposito (121st, 15:46) also counted toward the team score.

Also running for the boys’ squad were: Harrison Wordell (124th, 15:53); Daniel Watson (132nd, 1615); Alex Travassos (150th, 16:50); Matthew Miller (169th, 17:44) and Daniel Bernardo (175th, 18:00).

Others who competed for the girls’ squad were: Lydia Wilson (40th, 14:28); Elaina Alzaibak (42nd, 14:30); Ellie Platt (50th, 14:50); Jenny Yates (52nd, 14:56); Delilah Johnson (69th, 15:22); Katie Sturgess (91st, 15:55); Caroline Platt (97th, 16:03); Olivia Wrobleski (109th, 16:18); Andrea Zuzarte (111th, 16:32); Molly Vendetti (137th, 17:23); Paige Burton (160th, 18:18); Rachel Bernardo (165th, 18:23); Faye Callahan (168th, 18:26); Orla McKillop (174th, 18:44); Julia Medeiros (185th, 19:27); Sofia Dwares (186th, 19:27); Gianna DiGatti (221st, 25:06) and Jessica Nagle (222nd, 25:11).