Women's Cross Country | 10/26/2024 11:19:00 AM
WILLIAMSVILLE, N.Y. – For the fourth consecutive season, the Daemen University women's cross country team finished second as a team at the 2024 East Coast Conference Championships, held on Saturday at Bassett Park. The Wildcats placed four runners in the top-12 to earn All-ECC honors and finished with a team score of 52.
Roberts Wesleyan University won their 10
th straight conference title, finishing their top four runners in the top five, including the first and second place finishers to take a team score of 30. Molloy University finished third in the conference (77 points). D'Youville University (91), St. Thomas Aquinas College (121), Queens College (182), College of Staten Island (205) and the University of the District of Columbia (211) are the final five teams to finish in the race.
The Roberts Wesleyan duo of Kylee Odell and Rachel Horner Richardson finished first and second in the field of 61, with Odell winning ECC Runner of the Year honors after pacing the field with a championship time of 18:22.0.
Daemen graduate student
Courtney Merrill (Speedway, Ind.) placed sixth overall with a PR time of 18:34.3 to earn First Team All-ECC honors for the first time in her career.
Graduate student
Camryn Bailey (Geneva, N.Y.) picked up First Team All-ECC for the second straight season, finishing two seconds behind Merrill with a 5K PR time of 18:50.7 to place seventh.
Junior
Christa Oates (Tonawanda, N.Y.) finished 11
th overall with a PR time of 19:19.9 to earn Second Team All-ECC honors. It marked the first time that Oates earned All-Conference. Junior
Patsy Oberholzer (Greece, N.Y.) earned Second Team All-ECC honors for the second straight season, placing 12
th overall with a time of 19:23.3.
Graduate student
Emma Grzebinski (West Seneca, N.Y.) rounded out the Daemen scoring, finishing fifth on the team with a PR time of 19:50.2 to place 16
th overall.
NOTABLE
- Merrill led the Wildcats for the fifth straight meet this season.
- Merrill's 5K PR time of 18:43.3 was nine seconds faster than her previous best (18:52.0) set at the 2024 Harry F. Anderson Invitational on Sept. 28.
- Bailey shaved eight seconds off her previous personal best (18:58.8), set at the 2023 ECC Championships.
- Oates' time of 19:46.5 today was 27 seconds faster than her previous 5K best (19:46.5) set at the Harry F. Anderson Invitational.
- Grzebinski shaved 29 seconds off her 5K PR (20:19.0) set at the 2022 Canisius Alumni Classic.
- Senior Emma Cain (Lockport, N.Y.) finished 17th with a time of 19:54.5.
- Running in their first conference championships, freshmen Lia Brasacchio (Victor, N.Y.) and Kylie Piekarski (Lancaster, N.Y.) finished 23rd and 24th on the day. Brasacchio finished with a time of 20:11.9 while Piekarski crossed the finish line 10 seconds later with a PR time of 20:21.6.
- Junior Madeline Straub (Olean, N.Y.) placed 30th with a time of 20:55.2. Fellow junior Hayley Pizur (Grand Island, N.Y.) finished with a PR time of 21:27.8 to place 34th.
- Freshman Meagan Zupo (North Tonawanda, N.Y.) was the final Wildcat to finish in the race, placing 42nd with a time of 22:28.0.
UP NEXT
The Wildcats will race in the 2024 Division II East Region Championships on Saturday, Nov. 9 in Rochester, N.Y.
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.
