Sammi Ragenklint earns spot at NCAA Nationals, men and women’s team score best team performances in school history.
On Friday, November 13, the men and women’s cross-country team competed at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division 1 Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
It was a historic weekend for the Hawks, junior Sammi Ragenklint for the first time in school history, qualified for the NCAA National Cross-Country Championships by coming in at 5th place.
The last NCAA appearances from student-athletes on the track and field team were graduate students Allie Wilson and Corey Murphy, and (then sophomore but now current graduate Student) Danielle Steff competing at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in 2019.
Head Coach Mike Nelson said, “I’m so proud of our student-athletes and the way they battled for each other. The women got us rolling on a very positive note. We’ve never had an individual NCAA (cross-country) national qualifier, but that changed today! Sammi battled with the lead pack the entire race.” He continued, “I couldn’t be prouder of this group. They have shown confidence, toughness, and resilience.”
The women’s team scored 8th place out of twenty-seven teams. The best regional final in the women’s team history was 12th place. Following Ragenklint on the team, Graduate Student Mackenzie Jones placed 21st with a 6k time of 21:06; and sophomore Katie Locker was third in team order, placing 70th with a time of 22:16.
Freshman Rachel Mongeau placed 87th and Senior Mackenzie Delahunty ran close to her for 89th. Sophomores Marisa Kilgarriff placed 114th for 23:04 and Allie Pierontoni placed 142nd.
On the men’s side, the team scored 11th out of twenty-six making it the lowest in school history. The team was led by senior Louis DiLaurenzio who ran 32:12 for 10k and placed 55th in the race. He was followed closely by junior Cameron Janovic for 57th with a time of 32:14.
Freshman Luke Miller ran 32:38 to earn 72nd place and senior Matt Bodon placed 78th to run 32:48. Following in the race, seniors James Hoffman ran 33:00 to place 87th while Michael Pavicic placed 107th and Shane Ainscoe for 131st.
Coach Nelson noted, “The men had an equally impressive day. They came in ranked 13th, and they moved up a couple spots to 11th. The men showed poise under some very challenging conditions. They adjusted to the 10k distance and the course was muddy due to all the rain.”
Nelson also added, “The best the men have ever placed at this meet was also 12th. So, both groups had our best finish ever at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional. Overall, it was a great day for the Hawks!”
Up next on November 20th, Ragenklint will travel down to Tallahassee, Florida to compete in the NCAA Division 1 Cross-Country Championships. On the same day, hundreds of miles away in Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, the men and women’s team will also compete at the historic ECAC/IC4A championship to close the season.
