Regan Takes NCAA Regional Title
GLASSBORO, N.J. – Stevens Institute of Technology senior women's cross country runner
Amy Regan took first in 20:05.1 Saturday at the 2016 NCAA Atlantic Regional in south Jersey.
The top-two finishing teams from each of eight regionals earn automatic qualification to the national meet. After that, 16 teams are chosen for at-large berths based on their finish at regional meets.
Runners will await its team fate with Sunday's selection show at 1 p.m. with nationals set for next Saturday in Louisville.
As a team No. 22 Stevens placed fifth with 160 points, behind RPI and Ithaca who finished with 121. Geneseo placed first with 90, while Oneonta took second with 112.
All runners who finished within the top 35 of the race earned all-region honors. In all, 303 entries competed on the 6K course.
Regan jumped out to the early lead at the 2k mark, and held it at 3.7k as she cruised the rest of the way into the finish line. With the win, Regan has clinched a spot at nationals where she'll be looking for the second cross country national championship of her career.
Sophomore
Mary Visca also ran an outstanding race of 20:51.8 to take fifth, while sophomore
Kasey Suszko finished third on the Ducks with a time of 22:23.7. Visca's also clinched her spot in the national race for the second-straight year.
Senior
Kaela Earrusso placed 49th overall with a time of 22:27.3, and senior
Kathleen Kalbian finished in 58th with a 22:37.1.
ITHACA
Junior
Taryn Cordani was the runner-up at the regional championship with a time of 20:24.8, which was 19 seconds behind the individual champion, Amy Regan of Stevens Institute of Technology, who was the 2014 Division III national champion.
Fellow junior
Denise Ibarra took 11th overall with a time of 21:16.7, while classmate
Sierra Grazia was 25th in 21:46.8.
Sophomore
Emilie Mertz narrowly missed an all-region performance with a 37th place finish in 22:07.3. Freshman
Annie Morrison finished the course in 22:22.6 to place 46th at the championship.
Senior
Emily Drain and graduate student
Michaela Cioffredi placed 73rd and 75th with times of 22:42.0 and 22:44.9 to round out Ithaca's top seven runners.
NAZARETH
The Nazareth women's team posted several top 10 all-time times as they finished in 16th place among 43 teams with 484 points. The Nazareth men's team also competed and placed 34th with 1,038 points.
Nazareth senior
Emily Thompson posted a personal-best time for 6 kilometers as she placed 42nd individually with a time of 22:18.8. Her previous best time for 6k was 22:54.2 two years ago at Letchworth State Park.
More than 300 runners competed with freshman
Megan Menz placing 94th with a time of 23:02.1. She was followed by junior
Claire Ludington in 99th place (23:08.5); junior
Samantha Goble in 125th place (23:29.0); sophomore
Eileen Sheain 126th place (23:29.2); senior
Jamie DiSalvo in 129th place (23:34.0) and sophomore
Sage Miller in 138th place (23:45.7).
UTICA
Utica posted a 23rd place finish. Sophomore
Kaitlyn Stinson posted the second fastest 6K in program-history as she came in 57th place out of 204 competitors with a time of 22:36.5.
Junior
Makenna Cooley placed 109th with a time of 23:16.8, marking the third fastest 6K time in program-history, while sophomore
Renee Lewis (Utica, NY/Notre Dame) placed 112th with a time of 23:18.4. Lewis's time is now fourth in the College's 6K record book.
Freshman
Breanna Featherson placed 191st overall with a time of 25:12.0 and Lindsey Sicker added a 207th place finish with a time of 25:26.3.
HOUGHTON
After a four-year transition period from the NAIA to Division III of the NCAA, the Houghton College Highlanders are finally eligible for post-conference NCAA competition. The first Houghton teams to take advantage of this opportunity were the Men's and Women's Cross-Country teams, who concluded their season today at the NCAA Division III Atlantic Regional Championships, which were hosted by Rowan University. The women finished 26/49.
ST. JOHN FISHER
The St. John Fisher College placed 27th overall.
Sophomore
Juliette Miller was Fisher's top finisher, placing 138th overall with a time of 23:50 for the 6,000-meter race. Teammate
McKayla Crawford was right behind her, placing 146th overall at 23:59.
Gabriella Dunkelberg placed 178th overall at 24:30, while
Mikayla Baker and
Brenna Lyons placed 202nd and 206th overall, respectively.
HARTWICK
Sarah Matys (Holden, MA/Wachusett Regional) was 'Wick's top performer for the women's team, racing to a 6K time of 24:28.0. The freshman was the first Hawk to cross the finish line in all nine meets this season.
Sophomore
Abby Cerne (Cadyville, NY/Saranac) was next for the Hawks with a time of 25:16.3. Junior
Elsa Bock (Shelburne, VT/Champlain Valley Union) was not far behind in 25:28.8.
Tylisha Gourdine(Watertown, NY/Watertown) ran the race in 26:55.3.
Katie Evans (Rome, NY/Westmoreland) (27:12.5),
Morgan Taddeo (Walton, NY/O'Neill) (27:37.0), and
Brittany Sutliff (Schenectady, NY/Schalmont) (27:47.2) also competed for Hartwick.