AMHERST, N.Y. - Runners
Marcy Colca (Getzville, N.Y.),
Patsy Oberholzer (Greece, N.Y.) and
Aidan Kincaid (Orchard Park, N.Y.) of the Daemen University cross country teams have each been awarded by the East Coast Conference for recent performances. Colca picked up her second straight ECC Women's Cross Country Runner, Oberholzer earned ECC Women's Rookie of the Week for the second consecutive week, and Kincaid was named ECC Men's Rookie of the Week. All three awards are for competitions held September 5 through 11, and the official announcement was made via the ECC's
weekly sport report.
For the
second week in a row, Colca was named Cross Country Runner of the Week. She finished atop the field of 70 runners at the Daemen Alumni Invitational with a time of 18:40.8 to win her second straight victory of the season, as well as her first career 5K first-place finish. She led the way for the Wildcats as the first of seven runners in the top-10, and helped earn Daemen their second consecutive first-place team win on Saturday. Graduate student
Kassandra Nolet (Fort Erie, Ont.) finished second behind Colca, posting a silver time of 18:58.2, while senior
Courtney Merrill (Speedway, Ind.) placed third overall with a time of 19:28.8 for her highest finish of the season.
Colca ran a personal-best in the Daemen Alumni Invitational, shaving off 14 seconds from her previous PR time of 18:54.9 that came at the 2021 East Coast Conference Championship. After taking home ECC Runner of the Week honors for her first-place finish in the Frank Dillon Memorial Invitational last week, Colca becomes the first Daemen runner in program history to earn consecutive conference Runner of the Week awards.
Oberholzer made a statement in her first collegiate 5K on Saturday, placing sixth overall with a time of 19:40.2 as the fourth Wildcat to cross the finish line at the Daemen Alumni Invitational. With her second-straight
ECC Rookie of the Week award, she becomes the first Daemen runner since Mackenzie Donahue (2013) to take home consecutive conference Rookie of the Week honors.
Kincaid made his collegiate debut on Saturday in the Daemen Alumni Invitational, and earned his first ever ECC Rookie of the Week nod for his performance. The freshman placed 11th overall, posting a time of 29.43.2 over the 8K race. Coming off an injury that sidelined him for the season opener, Kincaid finished fourth on the Wildcats and helped lead Daemen men's cross country to their second-straight second place team finish.
Jon Moote (Wilson, N.Y.) placed third overall with a time of 27:17.8,
Connor O'Brien (Hamburg, N.Y.) finished sixth with a time of 28:14.9, and
Phil Ceccarelli (Hamburg, N.Y.) came in 10th at 28:48.6.
Kincaid is the first Daemen runner to take home ECC Rookie of the Week since Josh Bodnar on September 6, 2016.
The Daemen women are ranked second among ten teams in the East Region in the
2022 NCAA Division II Preseason Regional Rankings, released by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
Colca, Oberholzer and Kincaid are off this weekend, but will return to action on Sunday, September 25 in Colchester, V.T. when they run in the Equality Invitational in two weeks on Sunday, Sept. 25 hosted by St. Michael's. The men and women will all race the same distance -- 8K -- in the Equality Invitational.
Daemen University features the premier NCAA Division II athletics program in the Buffalo-Niagara region, sponsoring 17 intercollegiate teams. For the latest information on Daemen Athletics, follow the Wildcats via social media on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, or sign up to receive customizable news alerts, e-mail newsletters and weekly schedule alerts.
Follow the Daemen University cross country/track and field program on Twitter and Instagram at @DaemenXCTF.
