The Empire 8 announced its 2011 Women’s Cross Country All-Conference team. Graduate student Alissa Kersey of conference champion Ithaca College received Runner of the Meet recognition for finishing first in a time of 18:26 over the five-kilometer Saratoga State Park course, the site of the Empire 8 championship. Kersey repeated as a first-team runner and earned all-conference recognition for the fourth time in her career.
The top seven finishers were named to the all-conference first team with the next seven finishers earning second-team honors. Alexa Rick of Ithaca placed fourth to earn first-team all-conference and Rookie of the Meet accolades as the top first-year runner in the championship.
Three other Ithaca runners qualified for the all-conference first team and each of the first six runners on the second team were Bombers.
Heidi Baumbach, the 2010 Runner of the Meet, finished second to garner all-conference first team accolades for the fourth consecutive time. Senior Molly Quinn (fifth) and first-year runner Anastasia Diamond (seventh) also ran to first-team honors.
Sophomore Katie Day of Utica College, the Rookie of the Meet last season, finished third overall to repeat on the all-conference first team.
Junior Kelsey Ryan of Nazareth College, a second-team runner a year ago, placed sixth to receive first-team honors this time.
One member of each team was named that institution’s representative on the 2011 Women’s Cross Country Sportswoman of the Year Team. Empire 8 emphasizes that "Competing with Honor and Integrity" is an essential component of a student-athlete’s experience in conjunction with an institution’s educational mission. These honorees have distinguished themselves and consistently exhibit the critical traits as outstanding sportswomen.
Empire 8 2011 Women’s Cross Country All-Conference Awards
Runner of the Meet: Alissa Kersey, Ithaca College
Rookie of the Meet: Alexa Rick, Ithaca College
2011 Empire 8 Women's Cross Country All-Conference Release