Regan Named USTFCCCA Women's National Athlete Of The Year
c/o the USTFCCCA
USTFCCCA RELEASE
NEW ORLEANS, La. –
With her epic victory on Saturday, Amy Regan completed an undefeated junior season. Not only is she the first Stevens Institute Duck to win a national title, she's the first runner ever from a college in the state of New Jersey to win a men's or women's NCAA Division I, II, or III cross country national championship.
Regan did so in daring but tactically sound fashion. She opened up an enormous lead on the muddy course, consistently keeping a 10-15 second buffer between herself and the pack chasing her for the first half of the race. Eventually, Lucy Cheadle of Washington (Mo.) caught her, and the two ran side-by-side before Regan threw in a perfectly timed burst on the race's final hill. She gapped Cheadle by six seconds and ran 20:51 for the win.
It was the closest race of the year for the junior. She handily won the Atlantic Region and Empire 8 conference, and dominated invites at Lehigh, Haverford, Connecticut College, and Vassar.
FROM COACH WOOD:
"The USTFCCCA Athlete of the Year award tops off a truly incredible cross country season for Amy. She earned every bit of her success through hard work and sacrifice. The story of her climb to the top is incredible. She was not a top distance runner in high school and she barely broke the top 50 in her 1st collegiate cross country race. She was not an athlete that came in and dominated races from the very beginning. She had to do all the work necessary to become a great runner over several years. I expect that she'll continue to do that moving toward the next set of goals."