Ithaca Women's Cross Country Sweeps Empire 8 Year-End Awards
ITHACA, N.Y. – Ithaca swept the year-end Empire 8 women’s cross country awards as graduate student Alissa Kersey (Sandy Creek/Sodus) earned runner of the year accolades, freshman Alexa Rick (Elyria Catholic/Elyria, Ohio) was selected rookie of the year and head coach Bill Ware claimed coach of the year honors once again.
Kersey won the Empire 8 Championship with a season-best 5,000-meter time of 18:26.00, while placing 23rd at the NCAA Atlantic Region Championships with a season-best 6K time of 22:52.00. She also finished seventh at the NYSCTC Championships.
Rick was the top rookie at the conference championship with a fourth-place finish in a season-best time of 18:54. She placed 77th out of 256 runners at regionals.
Ware was named conference coach of the year for the ninth consecutive year. He is the only Empire 8 coach to garner the honor in conference history.